A Year Without the TARDIS
by BadWolfGirlx
Summary: The 10th Doctor and Rose end up stranded on Earth where the Doctor discovers a dangerous alien object and Rose's dark nightmares begin to merge with reality. During all the madness, can the Rose find the courage to say how she really feels about the Doctor? - Tenrose - Rated: T -
1. The Void Closes

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own Doctor Who, it belongs to the BBC.**

_Chapter 1 is set during Doomsday (Series 2 finale), when the Doctor and Rose are about to open the Void._

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Chapter 1 - The Void Closes<strong>_

It was time. The Cybermen were just a flight of stairs away from the Doctor and Rose, and they could see the Daleks approaching the Torchwood building they were stood in from the sky. They had to move quickly.

The Doctor passed Rose a magna-clamp, the very thing that was going to prevent her from being pulled into the Void, which would be a certain death. She rushed over to one side of the room carrying the clamp, while the Doctor headed to the other side with his own. She pressed her magna-clamp against the wall and waited for further instruction from the Doctor.

"Press the red button," he said. She quickly located the red button on the magna-clamp and activated it. Instantly, she felt it fuse against the wall.

"When it starts just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us, but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void stuff," he said. They ran over to the two levers, ready to push them up and open the Void. "You ready?"

Rose gave him a quick nod, then noticed four Daleks parading the skies out of the window. "So are they," she said.

He wasted no time. "Let's do it!"

As quickly as she could manage, Rose forced the lever on her side up into position whilst the Doctor did the same to his.

"Online," the computer said. A piercingly bright light, which came from the end wall, filled the room. Rose leaped over to her magna-clamp, wrapping her arms around it tightly. She looked over to the Doctor to see that he was also ready. An intensely strong wind started to blow towards the light, and Rose fought against it to try and stay standing. Then, she heard a huge crash from behind as a window smashed and Daleks began flying past them, past the Doctor and Rose and into the white light, disappearing forever.

The Doctor grimaced as he tried to hold on. "The breach is open! Into the void! Ha!"

Their plan was working! Rose smiled at the Doctor, as she tried to keep flat against the wall to stay out of the way of the metal monsters that were whizzing past. Suddenly, she noticed the Doctor's face fall, and saw that he was looking at her lever. Sparks were bursting from it, before it clicked out of its upright position.

"Offline," the computer said. Rose knew that something had to be done. She unwrapped one of her arms from the magna-clamp, and reached for the lever in front of her, the forceful wind trying to drag her into the Void.

Panic was in the Doctor's eyes. "Hold on!"

She strained to reach the lever, but she couldn't quite grasp it. She let go of the magna-clamp with her other arm and took a dive for the lever. She caught it and looked over at the Doctor. He stared back at her in agony as she pulled the lever with all her strength. Finally, against all odds, it snapped back into place.

"Online and locked," came the emotionless voice of the computer as the flow of the Daleks and the Cybermen sped up. All Rose was holding was the lever, and slowly, she felt her body being lifted by the wind.

"Rose, hold on!" the Doctor said, reaching for her, even though he was on the other side of the room, not close enough to grab her. She cried out in despair as her grip on the lever loosened.

"Don't let go!" His desperate shouts and the howling of the wind were the only sounds Rose could hear as she held on for her life. Her fingers that were gripping the lever were aching. The thing that kept her holding on was the thought of the Doctor being alone, without her. She couldn't let that happen. The thought of him being alone brought out a new strength in her and kept her fighting.

Just as Rose was sure the lever was going to slip from her hands, the intense white light filtered out of the room, and the void sealed off forever.

"Systems closed," the computer said.

The Doctor leaped up with joy. "We've done it!"

"Yes!" Rose said, laughing in triumph. Her arms and fingers ached, but she didn't care. They had been faced with a nearly impossible task, and they had done it. The Cybermen and the Daleks were trapped in an eternity of hell, and they'd saved the universe, once again.

"Oh Rose, I thought I was gonna lose you," the Doctor said. He ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"So did I," she said, relieved to be in his arms.

Then, she remembered.

Her face fell and she pulled out of their cuddle. Adjusting her jacket, she walked over to the vast white wall where the void had been sealed. She stared at it. Her mum was stuck in the parallel universe which had been shut off forever, along with the Void. She would never be able to see her again, as well as her dad and Mickey. She hadn't even said goodbye. In all the rush of world saving, she'd had to push it out of her mind. She let her fingertips brush the wall as she stood there silently, trapped in a state of shock.

Taking a deep breath, she turned around to face the Doctor.

"Mum, Dad, Mickey... Are they safe?" she said, her voice unsteady.

"Yes. They're safe," he said, swallowing.

She looked at the floor as a few moments of silence passed.

"They're gone," she whispered, her eyes glazed with tears. She closed her eyes and melted into the Doctor's arms as she wept uncontrollably.

"I know. I know." It barely came out as a whisper. He held her tightly and stroked her hair.

When she felt like she could move, the Doctor put his arm around her waist, and they trailed towards the TARDIS, leaving behind the mass devastation caused by the battle.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Rose heard a soft knock on her TARDIS bedroom door. She was curled up in a mess of duvet and bed sheets. Black make up stained her cheeks and her eyes were sore.<p>

"Come in," she croaked.

The door slowly opened and the Doctor crept in.

"Rose," he said, softly, his voice full of pity. It killed him to see her in that state. He perched on her bed and smoothed her arm.

"We're at your flat," he said. "When you're ready, you can come 'n collect anything you want to keep."

She lifted her head and sniffed. "I'll come now," she said.

They stood up and he looked into her eyes. He pulled her in and cuddled her. "I'm so, so sorry, Rose."

* * *

><p>Rose took a deep breath and stepped out of the TARDIS. She was instantly greeted by the familiar smell of the flat. It was left a little untidy, as it would have been on any regular day. This was where she'd grown up, yet she'd never felt as far from home as she did when she was stood there, alone in the silence. Trying not to reminisce too much, she entered her bedroom.<p>

First, she pulled out a few large photo albums from underneath her bed. She couldn't bring herself to look inside. Then, she picked up a small box from a drawer, which she'd made as a child. It held a lot of her memories from when she was younger. Scanning the room, she picked up her last few favourite bits and pieces and left it.

Rose stood outside her mum's bedroom for a while, hesitating to open the door. Finally, she built up the courage, and pushed the door open gently. Her heart fluttered as she stepped inside. The pink walls gave the room a warm, inviting feeling. She walked around a number of times, before stopping at the dressing table. There was a small picture frame, containing a photo of Rose and her mother. She added it to her pile of belongings. Next, she opened her jewellery box and found her mum's favourite bracelet. _I __was given this by your dad. It means so much to me, Rose. One day, I'd like you to have it. _Rose remembered her mother's voice so clearly that it brought tears to her eyes. She slipped it onto her wrist and fingered the dainty emerald beads.

Taking one last gaze around the flat, she sighed. Life would never be the same again. She turned away for the last time, and stepped into the TARDIS.

She sat down in the console room of the TARDIS with the Doctor. For a few minutes, they sat there, saying nothing.

"Are you sure there's no way back?" Rose said quietly, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Yes. I'm sure." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Rose, I really am."

"But you're the Doctor! You can do anything!" she said. But, from the sadness in the Doctor's eyes, she realised that she was fighting a lost cause.

He shook his head and smiled, but it was a doleful smile.

"I'm sorry Rose. Not always. Not this time." The Doctor glanced at the computer screen and then hopped over to it. "Buuuut," he started, tapping a few buttons. "I think there is one last gap in the universe. We can that can use to talk your mum for one last time."

A bubble of hope swelled up inside her. "Really? Can I really see her?!"

"Yes, if this works. It's going to take a lot of power." He danced around the console, pulling leavers and flicking switches, his eyes narrowing in concentration. All of a sudden, the TARDIS burst into action, and Rose held onto the seat as the spaceship shook. "Aha!" he said, as it steadied. "Now, stand over there Rose," he said, pointing to a space next to the console. "It's time to call your mother."


	2. Red is for Warning

_**Chapter 2 - Red is for Warning**_

That night, Rose tossed and turned under her duvet as her mother's words darted around in her head. The last words she'd ever hear her say. Earlier, she had stood in the console room with the Doctor, as their images were projected onto Bad Wolf Bay in the parallel universe where her mum was waiting. There, they said their tearful farewells in the short space of time that the Doctor could give them.

Another thought was also on her mind. Her mum was pregnant with a sibling that she'd never get to see. She'd never even know if it was a boy or a girl. She'd always wanted a sister or a brother as a child, but now she had the chance, she wouldn't be there. She thought of all the bedtime stories she used to hear about her dad and his crazy money making ideas. Maybe her new sibling would get to hear stories of the Doctor and her, saving the world. The big sister he or she would never have.

* * *

><p>Rose got up late the next day. Rubbing her eyes, she wondered if loosing her mum was a dream. Staring at the things she'd collected from the flat, which were sprawled across her bedroom floor, she realised that it was all too real.<p>

She finally forced herself out of bed, pulled on her slippers and made her way to the console room. When she arrived, she saw the Doctor there, fiddling with his sonic screwdriver.

He looked up and smiled. "Morning, Rose! How you feeling?"

"Not great," she said, returning him a weak smile.

"I'm so sorry, Rose. Really, I am," he said.

"T'wasn't your fault, Doctor," she said, stroking her mother's dainty green bracelet that she still had on her wrist from the previous day. She swallowed as tears sprung to her eyes and she tried to fight them back. The Doctor edged closer to Rose and took her hands.

"It's okay. I'm here for you," he said, his voice gentle and understanding. She smiled softly, then put her arms around him, embracing him tightly.

After a few minutes, Rose composed herself and they decided to go and get some breakfast.

They walked through the corridor and arrived at the kitchen. The TARDIS kitchen was round, like the console room, but it had glossy white walls, and it was brighter and smaller. There was a round table in the middle with matching chairs. Around the outside, there was a huge refrigerator, along with some other appliances and a long stretch of shelving, all following the same white, silver and black colour scheme. The fridge was controlled by the TARDIS and supplied whatever the Doctor needed.

"Hmm, what d'you fancy?" he said, with a twinkle in his eye. "Choose anything. Doesn't have to be breakfast-y. Something that'll cheer you up!"

Rose thought for a second. "How 'bout ice cream?"

"Alright! Ice cream it is. What flavour?"

"Ooh... go on; surprise me."

The Doctor zapped the freezer with his sonic screwdriver and when he opened it, sure enough, two sundae ice creams stood there in shining glass bowls. He offered one to Rose when she sat down at the table. She picked the bright blue one.

"The green one looks a bit too...alien," she said.

"Oi! Just 'cause it's alien doesn't mean it's bad. Just look at me!" he said, with a cheeky smile.

"You're still full of it!" she said, rolling her eyes and laughing, for the first time in a while. It felt good to smile again. They dug into their ice creams as the Doctor did his best to keep Rose's mind off her family.

About an hour later, a loud, intrusive beeping interrupted their conversation. It seemed to be coming from the corridor, or perhaps another room. Then, the lights in the kitchen dimmed down. The Doctor frowned, then leaped up from his chair and ran out of the kitchen, chasing the sound, followed by Rose.

The Doctor came to a sudden halt when he got to the ship's console room, Rose almost ramming into the back of him.

"Doctor, what's-" she said, stopping when she saw what had happened the console room, "wrong."

"I don't know. I really don't know," he said, shaking his head gravely.

The TARDIS had lost its familiar green glow, and instead the whole room was filled with an alarming dark red light.

The Doctor leaped over to the console and tried countless buttons and levers, but despite all his efforts, the noise did not stop, and the lights did not return to normal. Rose went over to the computer screen, which had also turned red. It was showing some kind of message in circular Gallifreyan.

"Doctor, is this important?" she said, pointing at the screen and staring at it intently.

The Doctor swooped over and read the message.

"That's not good. Oh no, that's really not good. We're in big trouble," he said, running his hand through his hair, then scratching his head.

"What? What does it say?" she said.

"The TARDIS is trying to materialise in two different times at once, in the same place. I don't know why, I haven't been flying her."

"But how is that possible?"

"It isn't. That's the thing. The TARDIS could be ripped apart, along with us! I need to stop this, and fast," he said, rushing around the console again, trying everything he could. "Something is dragging us into both times, the same force by the looks."

All of a sudden, the TARDIS began to shake uncontrollably, knocking Rose off her feet, the Doctor only just managing to hold on. She tried to stand up, but was immediately forced back down by the vibrations. She crawled over to the passenger seats and wrapped her arms around them. The Doctor was clinging onto the console, still attempting to fly the TARDIS.

"Hold on Rose!" he yelled.

Then, they felt the sensation of plummeting into nothing. As Rose screamed, the Doctor looked up at his failing TARDIS. The desperate look in his eyes showed a rarely exposed side to the Doctor; fear.

Just moments later, they felt a terrific thud and whole room was overtaken by a blinding white light. Rose yelled as she felt the seats fading from under her tight grip. The TARDIS was leaving them behind.

"No!" the Doctor said.

Before Rose could get to grips with what was going on, everything went black.


	3. Stranded

_**Chapter 3 - Stranded**_

The Doctor rubbed his forehead and opened his eyes, blinking in confusion. He was lying on some concrete on, what appeared to be, a pavement down a quiet street. He tasted the air - it was definitely Earth. Then, it all came back to him. The TARDIS had gone. He immediately sat up and peered around for Rose. She was lying, inert, in the road. He jumped up and dived over to her, without even checking for traffic coming, her safety more important to him than his own. He looked at her face to see that her eyes were firmly closed. Feeling worried, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her across the road, to an area of grass on the other side.

The Doctor found a bench on the pavement by the grass, which was positioned between some trees. He lay her down on it and checked her pulse, wondering what to do.

A slim man was riding past on his bicycle, stopping when he saw the Doctor and Rose.

"She alright there?" the cyclist said.

The Doctor looked up at him. "Yeah. Well, not really. She, err, hit her head." Of course, she hadn't really hit her head, but he was hardly going to tell this stranger that they'd just been abandoned by their time machine and that she was probably unconscious from the huge influx of excess time energy.

The cyclist joined them. "Do you need a phone to call an ambulance?"

Just as he was searching his pocket for his mobile phone, Rose's eyes fluttered open. She flinched when she saw two faces staring down at her.

"Rose! Are you alright?" the Doctor said in relief.

"Mmm, yeah, I think so," she said, squinting in the daylight. She pulled herself up so that she was sat properly.

"You might wanna get her checked out. Anyway, I'll best be on my way, mate," the cyclist said, with a smile.

The Doctor thanked him. Then, he hopped onto his bicycle and was off.

The Doctor sat beside her and put his arm around her.

"Doctor, what-" she said.

"It's the TARDIS, Rose. We've lost the TARDIS," he said, gravely.

"Guessing we didn't get ripped apart then," she said, obviously having remembered what had happened in the TARDIS.

"Nope, we're still here, so the TARDIS must be intact as well."

"But where are we? What are we gonna do?" Her voice was panicky.

"I don't know. We're definitely on Earth, and judging by his accent, I think we're in England. Not sure about the year though," he said, peering around. "Buuut, I think I know how to find out where the TARDIS is. If we're lucky, we'll have landed in the time latest of the two possible times that she was trying to land in. If that's the case, then the TARDIS is waiting for us somewhere close by."

"Let's look for it, then!" Rose said, jumping up from the bench.

They stared down the quiet little street. It was framed with well groomed hedges and trees, the Doctor noticed, but he saw no sign of the TARDIS. He scanned around with his sonic screwdriver, searching for clues. The buzzing frequency increased as he pointed it at a tree. He headed over to it and picked up some readings from an area right next to the tree.

Closing his eyes in dismay, he broke his findings to Rose. "We're here before the TARDIS. Judging from the tiny amount of new potential energy that's been scattered here from the future by the TARDIS, its about a year ahead."

"A year?!" Rose said. It was obvious that this came as a shock to her.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I'm gonna try, but I don't think we can do much but wait," he said. He put his arms around her to comfort her, and she squeezed him back. He was sure she was feeling as hopeless as he did. They were trapped. The TARDIS wasn't just their means of transport, it was their home. Somewhere to feel safe. Now it would be gone for a long time.

As they wandered down the street, wondering what to do about the situation, they spotted a group of young women who were probably around the same age as Rose. They were wearing bright neon colours, miniskirts and some of them had wild, curly hair.

"Is it just me, or do they look like the most stereotypical eighties women you've ever seen?" Rose said, looking amused.

"Well, my extensive knowledge of human history says that, yes, they do," the Doctor said, glancing at them and raising his eyebrows.

Rose playfully slapped his arm. "Oi, mister, eyes off," Rose said, clearly having noticed his eyes wander.

Ooh, he rather liked the fact that Rose was annoyed by him simply just looking at girls in short skirts.

"Is it just me, or can I smell jealousy?" he teased, comically sniffing the air. "Might you be suggesting that you would rather me stare at you in a short skirt?" He waggled his eyebrows at her.

She frowned. "Anyway," she said, looking a little embarrassed, "back to figuring out what year we have ended up in."

"Ah, of course," he said, smiling to himself as he accepted the fact that Rose didn't want to answer his question.

"Well, we can't exactly ask 'em, they'd think we're mad-" she said. "Doctor! Doctor, did you even hear to me?" she said with a raised voice as he crossed the road, regardless of what she had said.

"Hello, yes, excuse me, but could you tell me the date?" the Doctor said. The girls giggled.

Then, one piped up. "It's the third."

"Of what?"

"March, obviously."

"Yes, but what year is it?"

"Like ya don't know. Are ya messing us around?" the girl said, raising her eyebrows. When the Doctor responded with a challenging stare, she huffed and gave in. "It's 1987!"

"Right, thank you!" the Doctor said.

The Doctor and Rose joined him as the girls walked off, giggling. Rose sighed. Sometimes, the Doctor could be so alien. She slipped her hand into his, and they continued to walk down the pavement.

"It's 1987," he said.

"That's the year I was born. 27th of April, 1987," she said.

"I know. Bit of a coincidence," he said, then seeing Rose look up at him with nervous eyes. "But I'm sure it's nothing," he said, to reassure her.

As they ambled along, they discussed what their next move would be. The Doctor took note of the road they were on, so they'd know where to look for the TARDIS when the time came. Rose suggested that they find out where they were, where the nearest hotel was, and that they check in for a few days while they worked out what to do. When she mentioned having no money, the Doctor gave her a cheeky smile and brandished his sonic screwdriver.

"Doctor! I hate it when you use that thing to get money! It's technically stealing," she said, sighing. "But I guess we don't have much choice."

"Exactly. I won't get much out, don't worry."

Soon, they came across a sign, which pointed them in the direction of a town. It wasn't too far away, but the Doctor couldn't help thinking that it would have taken seconds in the TARDIS.

About half an hour later, they arrived at the town centre.

"Let's look for a tourist information shop. There should be one around," Rose said, surveying the area. "There's one!"

When inside, they were given a map of the area and a leaflet showing nearby hotels.

Once they had got everything they needed, they sat down on a bench in the busy town square, pondering over hotels whilst eating their fish and chips.

"We're near the city of London," Rose said, peering at the map.

"Yeah, I thought the air felt a bit thick and polluted," the Doctor sniffed, peering up at the sky.

"How 'bout this one?" She pointed to the photo of a nice enough hotel, that towered over the middle of the town. "Not too far from here and not too expensive."

"Okay, looks good to me. The Silver Gates Hotel it is," the Doctor agreed, jumping up. He saw that Rose was still eating her chips and rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Rose! You humans spend way too much time eating. Aren't there more important things to do than eat chips?"

"Nope, not for a normal human being. And since we're gonna be stuck here a while, you'll need to start acting like one."

The Doctor winced at the thought, but knew that Rose was speaking the truth. But how would be survive a whole 365 and a quarter days, possibly even longer? He decided not to think about it. Sitting back down next to Rose, he let her finish her chips and they talked some more.

They spent the next few hours buying some essentials, ready for their stay. When Rose mentioned clothes shopping, the Doctor was horrified.

"But I love this suit!" he said.

"You can't wear the exact same outfit for a year, people would get suspicious. Besides, you don't have any underwear," said Rose, dragging him to a shopping centre.

First, they found Rose some new underwear. The Doctor found the whole process of standing by the women's lingerie while waiting for Rose to choose what she wanted to try on very awkward. Rose giggled quietly at his amusing face. He was obviously a bit uncomfortable.

"So Doctor, which bra do you prefer?" she said, holding up two different bras. The Doctor's eyes almost popped out of his head in alarm at being asked such a question by his female companion. He opened his mouth to answer her, but shut it again when he realised that he didn't know what to say. She was wearing a mischievous smile, and he couldn't tell if she was asking a serious question, or just winding him up. As he stared at her, he started to think about how much he would rather fancy seeing Rose try them on. He shook his head. He was beginning to think like a human. He couldn't have that. "So?" Rose said, with an amused smile.

"Uh, the, the," he said. All those thoughts about Rose in her underwear had thrown him off track. He tried to divert his eyes away from her chest. "The, er, lacy pink one would look best on you."

Then it was Rose's turn to look astonished. "Huh? Were you thinking of-" she said, before the Doctor interrupted her.

"No!" he said, looking flustered. "I meant to say that the lacy pink one is my favourite. I would have no idea what bra would look best on you," he said, hastily correcting his mistake.

"Okay," she said, laughing.

"Rose Tyler, wipe that big grin of your face immediately!" he said, trying to keep a straight face, but failing miserably. He couldn't help but smile when Rose was happy. She had an infectious laugh, certainly to the Doctor, anyway. "What?" he said, as she continued to giggle.

"You! You're just so..._not human_," she said.

"Well, what do you expect?" he said with a grin. "Anyway, hurry up; I don't want to be stood around this section much longer."

After Rose had finished her underwear shopping, they went over to the ladies' clothes.

"Some of this stuff is hideous!" Rose chuckled, picking up a very ugly blue and orange rara skirt. The Doctor laughed in agreement. "But I don't mind these leg warmers. Hey, this could be fun, y' know!" she said.

They found Rose some outfits, including a range of miniskirts and colourful leg warmers. She had a lot of fun trying them on and showing the Doctor different combinations of outfits. The Doctor encouraged her, as he knew how much she enjoyed dressing up for different time periods.

When Rose had finished, she eventually managed to pull the Doctor over to the men's clothes. He wasn't too impressed.

"Rose, I am sure my suit will be-,"

"Nope, we're getting you some new clothes!" She took his hand and he followed her round to another part of the shopping centre. She smiled and said, "Of course, we can always buy some new suits if casual is too human-y for you!"

The Doctor couldn't say no to Rose Tyler's smile. Reluctantly, he started looking around for some suits. It took some time, but they finally found a few nice suits that fitted well. He grabbed some new underwear, and they took their clothes to the till and paid.

They wandered around the streets some more, as people filtered out and it gradually became less busy.

"It's six 'o clock. We should probably make our way to the hotel now. I think they have a small restaurant. Nothing too fancy, but the food will fill us up," the Doctor said. They checked the map and then made their way over to it.

* * *

><p>"Right, all booked up for two nights! Room 26 on the second floor," Rose said, holding up the key. She grabbed some of their shopping bags from the Doctor, and they made their way up.<p>

They opened the door to a clean, tidy room. It was fairly small, but cosy all the same. There were two doors, one on either side, presumably leading to the bedroom and the bathroom. Seeing the dusky pink walls of the main hotel room instantly made Rose think of her mum's bedroom, and the fact that her mum was trapped in another universe, an incomprehensible distance away, never to be seen again.

"Rose?" the Doctor said, as he walked into the bedroom, seeing her distant, sad eyes.

"Yeah?" she said, blinking back the tears.

"Are you okay?"

Rose didn't answer. Deciding that he'd asked a stupid question, the Doctor took her in his arms and squeezed her tight. They stood there for a few minutes, Rose trying to cheer herself up.

"Let's take a look at the other rooms," the Doctor said.

They found a small, pleasant bathroom. Rose started setting out their bathroom products and her make up while the Doctor set to work taking the tags off of their new clothes with his sonic screwdriver. He scooped up all of their clothes into a rough pile, and when Rose came out of the bathroom, they went to check out the bedroom.

They opened the door to find a small double bed that took up the majority of the room, with no room for much else. They both stared at it for a second.

"One bed?" the Doctor said, doubtfully.

"Oh," Rose said, "I guess they thought we were married or something."

"Um," the Doctor said. He wasn't sure what to say. "I can go and ask for a different hotel room, if you like, or-,"

"No!" Rose said hastily. "It's just that I, um, I just spent a while setting out the bathroom. It would be a pain to move now."

"Okay then, I don't mind. I don't sleep very often anyway."

They opened up the small wardrobe and chest of drawers, and started putting their clothes inside. Or at least, in the Doctor's case, started _attempting_ to put clothes away.

"Don't you know how to fold clothes?" Rose said, raising her eyebrows in amusement. The Doctor was holding up a shirt upside down, unsure with what to do with it.

"Weeell, yes, I can, it's just that..." he said, searching for an excuse. "No, I can't."

"Here, let me show you," Rose said, giggling while she laid out the shirt on the bed. For once, it was Rose who was showing the Doctor something new. For the next half an hour, they had fun together as she taught him how to fold and put away different types of clothes. The Doctor said he never could have guessed that doing housework would be that much fun._  
><em>

Later, they decided against having dinner, and instead, Rose chose to go to bed nice and early. They had had such a long, eventful day, that she was completely worn out. The Doctor decided that he'd skip sleeping that night - he had too much on his mind and he wasn't that tired anyway.

"Goodnight, Doctor," Rose said. Confused by the lack of reply, she realised that the Doctor was staring at her intensely. For a moment, she found herself gazing back at him, lost in his dark eyes.

"You're beautiful," the Doctor whispered, still not tearing his eyes off of her.

Rose blushed and looked down. Why was he saying that? She wasn't even wearing any make up.

"I mean it, Rose. You're beautiful."

"Thank you," she said, unsure how to react.

He put his hand out and she did the same. The Doctor's fingers ran down the back of her wrist, down her hand and to her fingertips. A sudden warmth came over her, a thousand tiny fireworks setting off down the trail that his fingers had traced.

"Goodnight, Rose," the Doctor said, smiling.

Rose returned the smile, and drifted off to bed, feeling dazed by the Doctor's touch.


	4. Thoughts and Nightmares

_**Chapter 4 - Thoughts and Nightmares**_

After Rose brushed her teeth, she slid under her bedcovers and curled up onto her side. The way the Doctor had touched just moments earlier made her feel dizzy and in love in a way that nobody had ever done before, not even Mickey. She thought long and hard about the one and a half years that she'd been travelling with him. She'd always liked him as a best friend, but there was a feeling that she had been aware of for a long time, that she kept suppressed deep inside of her because she was afraid to let it out. A feeling that she wanted more than just friendship with the Doctor. These days, it was getting harder to ignore that feeling. But a relationship with the Doctor could never work. For starters, he wasn't even human. And anyway, he wasn't the type to fall in love with a common Earth girl like herself. But, sometimes, Rose couldn't help thinking, the look in his eye when she caught him staring at her, suggested something different.

As she was falling asleep, her mind shifted to her mum who was trapped in a parallel universe. She had barely had any time to think of her today. Drowning herself in sorrowful thoughts, she drifted to sleep.

* * *

><p>The Doctor leaned back on the sofa and stretched out. He didn't like it when Rose went to bed as he always felt a bit lonely. He wracked his brains for some way out of the mess they were in, some way to summon the TARDIS back. But, try as he might, he was completely stuck for ideas. It was hopeless. His thoughts switched to Rose and he felt a surge of guilt. Yesterday, she has lost her mum for good. Today, they had gotten stuck in 1987. Human lifespans were very short compared to Time Lord lifespans. They were going to be spending valuable time stuck on the slow path, instead of Rose living life to the full and having adventures while she was young. But, maybe being stuck on the slow path for a while wasn't such a bad thing. If he was by himself, yes, it would have driven him crazy, but he was with Rose. There was something about Rose that he found so beautiful, so alluring. Her smile played on his mind in ways not even he could understand. Yet, he could never give himself to her.<p>

He sighed and tapped a spontaneous rhythm on the edge of the sofa. He wasn't tired. In fact, he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. There was no TARDIS console to tinker with, no TARDIS library to read books in, and no TARDIS pool to go swimming in. That blue box was his life when Rose wasn't around.

He got up onto his feet and paced around the room. The main room was very small and plain. Sitting around in there all night would propel him into a sense of madness for sure. He glanced at the clock. Quarter to twelve. Just as he was contemplating going for a midnight walk around the hotel, he remembered that they'd bought a brand new set of ties for him when they went shopping. Maybe he could try them all on to kill some time. There was a problem, however, which was the fact that Rose was sleeping and he didn't want to disturb her. He toyed around with the idea of creeping in her room for a bit, before hearing a soft whimpering sound. He stood still. It almost sounded like crying, coming from the direction of...Rose. He went over to the bedroom door and knocked on it, in the little rhythm that he always used on her bedroom door back in the TARDIS.

"Doctor?" Rose said, her voice quiet and muffled.

"Rose? Are you alright?" His brow knitted into a worried frown.

"I-, um-," she said.

The Doctor opened the door to see Rose lying on her front, cuddling her pillow. Her head was turned to one side and she lifted it when she heard Doctor enter.

He perched on the side of the bed, by the pillow, and silently tucked strands of her hair behind her ear. Her face was streaked with tears, and her breathing was erratic. The Doctor put a hand on her side and stroked her until her sobs faded.

"Was it a nightmare?" he whispered.

"Yeah. It was my mum." She wiped her eyes. "Look at me, cryin' like an idiot."

"Hey, hey, don't say that! You're far from being an idiot, Rose, believe me. In nine hundred years of time and space, I can't think of many people who have been as compassionate and as clever as you," he said. Seeing Rose Tyler in distress was like watching a puppy die. He was sure he almost felt as awful as she did. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Rose thought for a second, and then shook her head.

"I understand," he said. He paused for a moment. "I'll stay with you tonight."

"Thank you, Doctor," she whispered, clearly grateful.

The Doctor went around to the other side of the bed and sat in the bed next to her. Rose turned over and rested her head on his chest as he cradled her body. He couldn't deny that he loved being so close to Rose. Trying to push a few stray inappropriate thoughts out of his head, he absently started to caress her thigh. She snuggled in further. He swallowed. He was suddenly very aware that Rose was practically sat on his lap and that his hand was close to an area where friends did not touch. He snatched it away and instead put it on her knee. Much safer there. He just hoped he could control himself. In the end, they dozed off to sleep - even the Doctor.


	5. A Day Out

_**Chapter 5 - A Day Out**_

When Rose awoke the next morning, she found herself cuddled into the Doctor's arms. A smile crept over her lips and she snuggled in further.

"Hello sleepy head," the Doctor said, grinning down at her.

"Hello," she said, smiling back up at him. "Thanks for staying with me."

"Anything for you, Rose," he said, giving her a quick squeeze. "It's ten past nine. I think we've missed the hotel breakfast."

"I don't care, I'm not hungry," she said, adding a contented sigh. To her delight, they spent another five minutes lying there together.

"Did we get any coffee?" the Doctor said.

"Mm, I think so," Rose said.

"Come on then, it's 'bout time we got up," he said, cheerfully.

The Doctor gently nudged Rose off his lap and pulled himself up. A gentle frown spread over Rose's face and she pursed her lips in disapproval. She squinted at the bright daylight that filtered through when the Doctor opened the curtains, and then dragged herself out of bed. She tugged at her skimpy pyjamas and followed him out the door.

Rose went over to the shopping bags that were sprawled out on the carpet in the main room. She rummaged around inside one of them and pulled out a jar of instant coffee that they'd purchased the previous day and made her way over to the sofa, where the Doctor had used his sonic screwdriver to fill up the kettle.

"Didn't know it could do that," Rose said, eyeing the screwdriver.

"Oh yes, it can do more than just open doors, this old thing. I thought you'd know that by now!"

"Yeah, but I didn't know it could fill a kettle up with water. Where does the water come from?"

"Not too sure actually. Something to do with water particles multiplying from the small amount of water that was already at the bottom. It's quite handy though, don'tcha think?"

"Yep! Saves me walking 'round the hotel to find a water machine in my PJs, anyway."

Once the kettle boiled, they found mugs and teaspoons in the cupboard in the side table, and poured out some coffee.

"I quite like this little human tradition of having a nice boost of caffeine in the morning," the Doctor said, contentedly sipping his coffee. "Needs milk though."

For a while they sat there, chatting and chuckling about previous adventures they'd been on. Rose was determined to keep her mind off her mother, so she kept them talking as much as possible.

"So what was TV like in the 1980s then?" she said when a little black television set catching her attention.

"I'm not too sure, why don't we find out?" he said, zapping the TV with his screwdriver. A cooking show appeared. The TV was in colour, but it was very grainy and poor quality.

"This is gonna take a bit of getting used to," Rose said, squinting at the screen.

"Nah, it's not that bad! Don't you remember seeing the TVs in the 1950s? Y' know, when we fought the wire?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

Fifteen minutes had passed when Rose decided that she was bored of watching the television. She used to be able to sit there for hours on the sofa, before she had met the Doctor. Now, it was different. Now, she knew there was more to life than TV and chips, and watching the drivel on the screens no longer appealed to her anywhere near as much. She was therefore pleased when the Doctor suggested that they go out for a walk in the town. Rose agreed and hopped up from the sofa and went to get ready.

Rose showered, cleaned her teeth, dried and brushed her hair and put on her usual make up - blusher, black eye make up and little else. She stared into the mirror and sighed. The efforts that she took to tame her hair were not effective that morning. It was hardly surprising, though, considering that they had landed in 1987 with nothing and had barely spent any time shopping for hair products because of the Doctor's complaints. She longed for her hair straighteners that were trapped in the future with the TARDIS. She wasn't even sure if they sold straighteners in the 1980s. In the end, she decided to go for a messy look. So, she grabbed the front section of her hair and pinned it back into a quiff, then softly backcombed the rest of her hair until it was a little messy and puffy.

When she exited the bathroom, the Doctor looked up. He was still lounged across the sofa, but he had found a book and was flicking through it. He looked up when she walked into the room.

"Women. No matter where you go in the big, wide universe, they will always take hours getting ready. And you're not even dressed!" he said.

"Oi! I wasn't that long. I'm gonna get dressed then I'll be ready," she said, walking towards the bedroom. She shut the door and sighed. "Men. No matter where you go in the universe, they're always the same," she said to herself, mocking the Doctor's voice flawlessly.

She decided to go bright and adventurous with her outfit that day. After all, she was in the eighties. She pulled on a short, puffy, black ra-ra skirt, a pink off-the-shoulder top and striped neon yellow and black leg warmers. She studied herself in the full length mirror. It was early March, so it was probably not going to be very warm. With that thought, she grabbed her black leather jacket and slung it over her arm for later. Her glance fell onto her bare legs. _They'll just have to suffer_, she thought.

"Wow Rose," the Doctor said, raising his eyebrows as she walked into the main room. "That's, well, a very bright outfit."

Rose swallowed. Did that mean he didn't like what she was wearing? Was it too bright? "Yeah, well I was experimenting. I can change if you like."

"No, no, no, it looks good!" he said, still staring at Rose. "Very eighties," he added with a grin.

"Well, that was the plan!" Rose said, beaming.

"Right then, allons-y!" he said, leaping up from the couch. Rose laughed, and took his hand. With her other hand, she swept up her phone and purse from the side and placed them into her jacket pockets. They locked the door and frolicked off down the corridor.

When they were out on the streets of Greater London, the Doctor made it clear he didn't want to spend the whole day shopping.

"Well, seein' as it'salmost lunch time, why don't we spend half an hour finding some hair products for me and then get somethin' to eat?" Rose said. She rummaged around in her purse and saw that they had little money left. Seeing her dissatisfied frown, the Doctor asked her what was wrong. "We barely have any money left. Shopping yesterday cost over four hundred quid!"

"Okay then, I'll just grab some from that cash machine over there." He walked over to the cash point.

When the Doctor returned, they went off and found Boots. Rose found some hair products and hair straighteners. She picked up some hair curlers too, seeing as curly hair seemed to be very fashionable at that point in time and then they went to pay. The Doctor raised his eyebrows at the extensive amount of beauty products Rose had collected. Rose had to explain that for women, it's not as easy as waking up in the morning and looking perfect.

Once they were back out in the open, Rose was eager to find somewhere to eat. "what about that little café over there?" she said.

"Yeah, okay, sounds good to me!" he said, and offered to carry some of the shopping bags for her, to which she gladly agreed. They walked towards a little tearoom which had inviting pale blue walls and friendly pink flowers painted in the window.

They chose a table by the window. The café was well lit and pleasant, and there was an overwhelmingly sweet smell of bakery goods that were neatly lined up on a glass display cabinet. No sooner than Rose had picked up a menu, there was an old woman with short, neat, white curls standing over them.

"'Ello dearies! May I recommend our freshly cooked lemon drizzle cake?" she said, cheerily, in a strong cockney accent.

"Ahh, that does sound good," the Doctor said, smiling. "I'll, um, let Rose order first."

Rose shot him a quick frown because she knew that the Doctor was just letting her order first because he had not chosen himself. As nice as the woman seemed, Rose didn't like the fact that she clearly didn't understand the concept of personal space, as she was standing too close for comfort. Rose scanned the menu and with a forced smile ordered herself a cup of green tea and a slice of lemon drizzle cake.

"Okay, dear. Now I'll let your other half order," she said, looking at the Doctor with a sickly sweet smile.

For a moment, the Doctor looked like he didn't realise that he was the one being referred to as Rose's 'other half'. Then, he jerked his head up. "Sorry, I'm not... I was...I'll have a espresso and a blueberry muffin please," he said.

"Thanks, I'll be right back with your orders," she said, before beaming and briskly walked away.

When she was getting to work with the food and drinks, the Doctor leaned closer to Rose. "What's an espresso?" he said, keeping his voice noticeably quieter than normal.

Rose laughed. "So you're 900 odd years old and you dunno what an espresso is. Do you drink much coffee, Doctor?"

"Not really, I just have the occasional instant coffee like we did earlier. Why?"

"You'll see when it comes then," Rose said, with a slightly wicked smile.

"Should I be worried by the look on your face, Rose Tyler?" he said, half smiling and narrowing his eyes. He folded his arms, rested them on the table and leaned in closer.

"Maybe," she challenged, sliding closer to him. Then, lowering her voice, she said, "I don't like that waitress though. She leant right over me!"

"Mmm, she was a little over friendly, I must admit," he said, quietly.

Their faces were inches apart. The conversation they were having slipped out of Rose's mind as her gaze fell to the Doctor's lips. They were so close. Oh, what she'd give to be able to kiss him right then. But, she knew that she would never be able to. She glanced back up at his eyes. The Doctor was looking down at her own lips. Her heart rate increased. Was he thinking of the same thing? Surely not. Maybe there was something on her lips. She licked them, to get rid of anything that may be there. His fixed gaze only intensified at the sight of her tongue. He looked back up into her eyes and she did her best to read his caliginous eyes. They were revealing nothing about his emotions towards her at that moment.

"'Ere you are, loves!" the waitress said, tearing them from each other's eyes. "Just as ordered." She gave them their food and drink, dusted off her skirt apron and walked away.

"Right then," the Doctor said, clearing his throat, "let's tuck in!" He took a slurp of his espresso, and Rose watched him, eagerly. He pulled a face and didn't hesitate to place it back down on the table.

"Too bitter for ya?" she said between giggles.

"Yeah, just a bit. I think it's an acquired taste," he said, still wearing his this-coffee's-too-bitter face. "You know what, Rose, just remind me next time to order something different."

"Okay, Doctor!" she said.

They dived into their cake and tea and munched away. Rose was content with listening to the Doctor ramble on about something or the other.

Once they paid, they left the café and were out on the streets once again. They spotted a signpost that pointed them in the direction of a park, and decided to follow it.

The Doctor smiled approvingly when they reached the park. "Ah, nothing like a few trees and wildlife to cheer you up. In fact, did you know that there is this teeny tiny planet called Kenquor De Li Nine, translating to 'The Nine Green Gardens'. People go there to relax, it makes a considerably beautiful holiday destination. I must take you there sometime, Rose," he said, rather enthusiastically.

Rose smiled. She loved it when the Doctor told her about other worlds. The universe was so vast. She was sure that even if he talked until the end of time, there would still be planets yet to describe.

They sauntered through the trees, hand in hand and rejoiced in the early spring sunlight.

"Let's get ice creams!" Rose said, pointing to an ice cream van, her face lighting up.

"Alright then, why not?!" the Doctor said, grinning like a small child.

* * *

><p>After a pleasant day out, they arrived back at the hotel.<p>

"We've run out of money _again_?!" Rose said, examining her near enough empty purse. They'd only taken money from a cash point that morning.

"Weeeell, I didn't really get that much money out, to be honest-," he said.

"Doctor, I'm gonna have to get a job," she said, firmly. "If we are gonna be stayin' here for a year, we can't just keep on stealing, it's wrong."

"We've only been here twenty six hours and you want a job already?" the Doctor said. It was clear from his expression that he didn't want Rose to start working, not that soon at least.

"I'll have to sooner or later, Doctor. We've got two more nights here. Then, we'll have to rent out a flat, and I'll need a job so we can pay for it." Seeing the Doctor's disappointed face, Rose softly added, "I didn't want to lose the TARDIS either, y' know. But we've gotta work with what's happened."

"I know. You're right. I suppose we ought to start looking for accommodation available for rent around here," he said.

"How 'bout we go to an estate agents in a minute then? If we get that out the way, we can enjoy ourselves more instead of worryin' about not having anywhere to go when we leave this place."

"Okay then, let's get this over and done with. I can't believe that I'm going to be living in an actual _building_."

Rose giggled and said, "I know! It's gonna be weird watching you do the washing up!"

The Doctor shot her a stern look. "Don't think you'll be catching me doing much of that. I'm an alien, I don't do domestics!"

"We'll have to see about that, won't we?!" she said, giving him a cheeky grin.

"In your dreams, Rose Tyler," he said, with a playful smirk. Rose giggled and shook her head. He grabbed his coat from the coat peg and swung it on. "Shall we get going then?"

"Yep, one sec, just poppin' to the loo, then I'll be ready," she said, turning around and dashing towards the bathroom.

When she was ready, they set off, hand in hand.


	6. The Alien and the Shopgirl

**_Chapter 6 - The Alien and the Shopgirl_**

"I'm gonna miss this place," Rose said, "especially the pancakes!"

"Me too," the Doctor said. "Ah well, onwards and upwards!" It was late morning after their last night in the hotel, and they were stood in reception, waiting for somebody to appear behind the desk so they could give in their key.

"We should've bought suitcases. We probably look ridiculous carryin' all these bags!" She gestured down to the ten large plastic shopping bags of clothes, coffee and toiletries that they were carrying.

"Weeellll, you know us, we tend to have a habit of looking silly! According to Queen Victoria, anyway," he said. She laughed in agreement.

"Oh yeah, my nakedness was just too much for her majesty," she said.

Rose watched some over excited children race down the stairs and zoom past them, heading for the breakfast hall, their parents in tow. She smiled to herself. She wondered if she'd ever have children. Of course, she'd love to have a baby in the future, but she couldn't see herself settling down with anybody but the Doctor, and the Doctor didn't settle down. He never would. He would just keep running and running, his whole life, never stopping. Besides, she didn't know if a Time Lord and a human could actually conceive a child.

"Hi, can I help you?" a female receptionist said, and Rose and the Doctor turned around to face the desk.

"Ah, yes, we've come to return the key. We've been kicked out," the Doctor said.

"He means our stay's over," Rose said hastily, adding a quick smile. For a super intelligent life form, he couldn't half say the wrong thing at times.

"Right, yes, that's what I said," he said, handing the key over.

"Thank you for staying at The Silver Gates Hotel. How was your stay?" the lady said, after she'd put the key under the desk.

"Yeah, it was great! The food was especially good," Rose said.

"Well, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it here. Please be sure to recommend us to your friends and family."

Rose and the Doctor said their farewells and went on their way.

Once they were outside the hotel, surrounded by busy town life, they discussed their plans for the day. Rose needed to find a job, so they decided to go around and look for employment in the morning, stop for lunch and then go and collect the keys for their flat.

"It shouldn't be hard for you to get a job in a store as you've had past experience as a shopgirl. Saying that, I don't really know the economic state of 1987, so I don't know if there is a current unemployment crisis here," the Doctor said, as they strolled down the road.

"Not that I know of. And anyway, there's bound to be people needing a shopgirl," Rose said.

They decided to go and check out clothes shop chains to begin with, and worked their way down the street. As they walked, Rose took in her surroundings. This was the year she was born, and where she was to stay for a whole year. It was very different to the year 2006, the year she was from, yet she could tell that some things hadn't changed at all. Travelling back into the past on Earth was something that she couldn't seem to get used to. Alien planets were another story, but going into the past had a surreal, but dangerous feeling to it. There she was, living the history that she'd grown up hearing about. One wrong step and she could have never been born. Thinking about that gave her chills.

After some initial unsuccessful job hunting, they decided to try a newsagent's shop. They entered the little shop to find a large, buoyant woman with a short, dirty-blonde bob and fringe behind the counter. The shop had a warm, cosy feeling and the walls were lined with sweets, newspapers and tobacco.

"Hello there," the woman said.

"Hi," Rose said, returning a smile. "Just wondering if you have any jobs going? Or if you would happen to know of any jobs around the area?"

"Yes, in fact, I am currently looking for somebody. Is this for you, or your, er, partner?" she said, nodding towards the Doctor, clearly unsure on whether they were a couple or not.

"For me, Rose," she said, choosing to ignore the fact she had referred to the Doctor as her partner. She was secretly pleased that he didn't correct the woman either.

"Okay Rose, I should be able to offer you a position. You see, when the last person quit, I took over their working hours, but I'm getting older now and I don't really want to work very much. I've been meaning to put out an advert for the job, but, since you've asked, do you want to have a quick chat with me?" the shop lady said.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Rose said.

"Follow me and we'll talk in the back room," the woman said, beckoning Rose behind the counter. "You can come too, if you like," she added, directing this at the Doctor. He obliged and followed them into the room.

"Take a seat," she said, showing Rose and the Doctor to a sofa. "My name's Janet, by the way. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you earlier, how terribly rude of me."

"Not at all, Janet!" the Doctor said.

They sat down and tucked their bags neatly by the side of the sofa. Rose decided that she liked the first impressions she had of Janet. She seemed bubbly and friendly, but not too over the top, and she had a kind smile. Rose was almost certain that this woman was in her early sixties.

"Would you like tea? Coffee? Water?" she said. Rose and the Doctor decided that they'd both have a coffee each. Janet walked to the other side of the little room. As they waited, Rose peered around the room. The small room had light brown walls, giving it a warm, cosy feel. Two cream sofas sat along different walls, and there was a mini fridge, a microwave and a kettle on a shelf against the far wall, where Janet was. "This is what we call 'the back room', it's where you can come and eat lunch, or chill if you've arrived early. It's also where I hold the occasional meeting, if one is necessary," she said.

"Okay," Rose said. Janet popped a teaspoon in each coffee and brought them over on a little tray, complete with a sugar pot, milk jug, a slice of lemon and a biscuit each.

"Here you are then!" she said, placing the tray on a coffee table. "So then, Rose, let's talk about your previous job experience first."

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, the Doctor and Rose waved goodbye to Janet and left the newsagent's. The little bell on the door tinkled as it closed, and they strolled along the pavement.<p>

"Janet is so nice! I'm so happy I got the job," Rose said.

"Yeah, she is. I'm glad she's your boss," the Doctor said. He looked thoughtful for a while, before saying, "You know, you did really well in that interview she gave you." He looked down at her with smiling eyes.

"Thank you!" Rose said. She slipped her phone out of her pocket and looked at the time. _Almost twelve o' clock_. "I know it's a bit early, but I'm pretty hungry after that. How 'bout pizza?"

"Yep, sounds good to me!"

* * *

><p>It was early afternoon and the Doctor and Rose were stood outside their new home. The block of flats was not shabby, but neither was it posh. It was on the outskirts of the town, and it was just a ten minute walk away from the Rose's new job. They walked into the white building and up a couple of flights of stairs with all their bags. Once they'd arrived at the door, the Doctor set down his bags and fumbled with the lock and key.<p>

The Doctor opened the door, turned on the light and they cautiously peered inside. They were greeted by a small living room, that had an old, off-white carpet and walls that were covered in dull flowery wallpaper. There was a large window at the end of the room, overlooking a park and part of the town. There was a little black TV on a stand in the corner and a petite maroon leather sofa that took pride of place in the middle of the room which had clearly been well-loved. Other than the sofa and the TV, which the previous renters had obviously not wanted to take, the room was bare.

"Weeeelll, it could have been worse!" the Doctor said as they paced around the room.

"Yeah, it's not too bad considering the price. We got a nice deal," Rose said. She plodded over to the window and took in the view. "No curtains though," she said.

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem, but I guess it would be nice to have some," he said. "It's nice and clean in here though."

"Let's check out the other rooms." She opened one of the doors and found a very small room with cream walls and single mattress on the floor. There was a window, and this one, thankfully, had curtains. "It's not too bad," she said, her voice echoing around the bare room.

"C'mon then, next room!" It was a tiny bathroom, with a shower, a mirror, a sink and a toilet. The Doctor and Rose walked back across the living room to the opposite door. Inside, they found a bright kitchen, with a large window and few basic essentials. The next door opened to a bare room, which was to be the other bedroom, but this one didn't have a mattress.

"I'll sleep on the sofa," the Doctor said, straight away.

"Are you sure, Doctor?" Rose said. "I can always sleep on the sofa inst-,"

"Honestly, it's fine. You know me, I don't sleep very often anyway. I was fine when we were in the hotel," he said.

"Alright, as long as you're okay with it." They left the room and the Doctor noticed another door.

"I think that door leads to an airing cupboard," he said. "The people at the estate agents said this was a two bedroom flat, so it must be."

Next, they worked out what furniture and household items they'd need to buy. So, the Doctor went crashing through the kitchen drawers and cupboards to be sure that there was nothing there left behind that they could use, instead of buy. But, unfortunately, it looked like the last people who lived there had taken everything with them.

"So, we've got an oven and a sink in the kitchen, and one out of two mattresses in the bedrooms. We'll need some knives, forks and spoons, pots and pans, knives, chopping boards, a vacuum cleaner, a washing machine..." She continued to think of more ideas as she scribbled them down on a small notepad the Doctor found in his pocket.

"I can't believe it. I'm an alien, a _Time Lord_, and I'm going to be buying a _vacuum cleaner_! It's all very strange, and not in a good way," the Doctor said, pacing around the kitchen.

"Yeah, you know, you pacing like that is not really helpin'," Rose said, as she wracked her brains for more household items. It was hard enough for her, as she had been living in a spaceship for almost two years, so she could see why the Doctor hadn't thought of much. She looked up from the sofa at him, and her voice softened at the sight of his strained expression. "I know, Doctor. I want the TARDIS back too. But a year can't be that bad, can it? I've lived your life for a while, now you can live mine. Or a similar one to mine, anyway. And when we get the TARDIS back, we can carry on fighting aliens and monsters and evil robots. But for now, you need to think more positively."

"You're right, Rose. There's no point crying over spilt milk, I suppose," he said, looking like he was making more of an effort to be happy.

"That's the spirit!" she said.

"Oh, come here you!" he said, seating himself down next to her and cuddling her tightly. She closed her eyes and smiled as she felt his warm body against hers. Then, he pulled away, and instead held her at the elbows and grinned. "What would I do without you, Rose?" he said. She smiled. She was so happy to mean that much to him. When his grin faded, she noticed that he was still staring at her intensely. Her heart fluttered. For one glorious moment, as she noticed his gaze crawl down to her lips and saw him lean in closer, she was certain he was going to kiss her. She imitated his actions, so that they were tantalisingly close. Rose felt every hair on her body stand to attention. She was so close to him. Then, his voice cut through the silence.

"You feel cold, Rose," he said, clearly having felt the goosebumps on her arms beneath his gentle grip. She kept her eyes on his, not saying anything. He swallowed. "Maybe we should go into the airing cupboard and find out how to heat this place." After another few seconds of silence, the Doctor let go of Rose's arms and shifted himself around. He got up, leaving Rose slumped on the sofa. She let out a quiet, unsatisfied sigh. She knew that it would have led to nothing. None of their tense, intimate moments ever did. She was fighting a lost cause.

"Do you need help?" she asked, her voice forcefully cheerful.

"Ummm," he replied, pulling at his ear. Then, he slipped his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and waved it around the central heating control panel. "Nope, I think I've got it." Rose heard a click, then a low whirring sound. "Aha! Done it! Who's ya daddy?!"

Rose laughed and rolled her eyes. "Why thank you, Doctor, how very kind of you," she said, mimicking a posh English accent. "In fact, you do such a great job at domestics, that perhaps you may consider making us dinner tonight?"

"Er, yes, about that," he said, with a challenging smirk. "It's not going to happen!"

Rose giggled. _I'll get my way one day_, she thought.

"So, where were we?" she said, back to her good old cockney accent. "Oh yeah, we were workin' out what we need," she said, grabbing the discarded notepad and pencil that had almost slipped down the side of the sofa. She tapped her head with the end of the pencil, trying to think of more ideas.

Soon, they had a complete list. It was going to be very expensive, so they'd chosen the most important things that they needed and planned to shop for them with Rose's first payment, which would be given to her the following Friday. After working out what they needed, Rose decided to set out their items. She put the small amount of food they had on the shelf in the kitchen, then set to work putting out their bathroom bits and bobs. She left the clothes neatly folded inside the plastic carrier bags and put them all in her bedroom. As she was leaving her bedroom, she realised that she was getting increasingly hot and sticky.

"Doctor, how high did you set the temperature? I'm sweatin' like a pig!" she said as she walked into the living room.

"Only about thirty five. But-,"

"_Thirty five_?! That's way too hot!" she said, marching over to the airing cupboard.

"What is the temperature measured in?" the Doctor said.

"Degrees Celsius," Rose said, peering into the cupboard.

"Ohhhh, that would be why then," the Doctor said. "I was thinking it was measured in the same units as we had on Gallifrey, for a second there. Not sure why, because I haven't been there for years, for obvious reasons."

"Oh, right," she said, closing the cupboard door after she'd set the temperature to twenty degrees. "I was worried you wanted to cook me for dinner or something," she said, jokingly.

"Don't be silly," he said, grinning cheekily, "I wouldn't cook my dinner while I was in the pot with it!"

She chuckled at his little joke. "Great to know that my own Doctor would quite happily cook me then. Remind me never to stay here alone!" she said.

Next, they settled on the idea of watching TV. They spent the rest of the afternoon on the sofa, discovering more about the 1980s and Rose made a mental note of the fashionable hairstyles of the time so she could apply them to herself.

After they'd been out for dinner, it was fairly late, so Rose set an alarm on her phone, so she'd be ready for her first day of work the next day, and fell asleep on the mattress.


	7. Rose's New Job

_**Chapter 7 - Rose's New Job**_

Rose looked into the bathroom mirror. She was almost ready for her first day of work. She hadn't had a proper job since she'd first met the Doctor, so she was feeling a bit nervous. She touched up her make up and gave her hair one last brush. She looked down at her bright blue leg warmers and matching blue t-shirt. Her new boss had told her that she could wear anything, so she guessed it would be fine.

Rose walked into the living room and picked up her black leather jacket that had been slung over the back of the sofa and slipped it on. She checked the pockets to make sure that she had money and her mobile phone. Her mobile phone wasn't going be much use, but she kept it in her pocket mainly out of habit. Besides, she'd never know if she'd need to call the emergency services when she was out.

"I'm going to work," Rose said to the Doctor, who was sat on the counter in the kitchen, staring out a window. He turned his head at the sound of her voice.

"I can walk you there if you want," he said, jumping off the side. "I've got nothing else to do today."

"Alright then, yes please!" Rose said. They linked arms and made their way to the shop.

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the newsagent's, Rose turned to the Doctor and gave him quick hug. He was pleasantly surprised at this sudden affection from his companion.<p>

"You'll be fine," he said, beaming. She smiled back gratefully. "You be careful on your way home, and I'll see you at about six, yes?"

"Yep, I will," she said, rolling her eyes. "See ya later!" she said.

"Bye!" the Doctor said, watching her go around to the back door of the shop. He waited for a few seconds to make sure she'd got in. He sighed. He hated seeing Rose go off without him, even if it was the safest place in the world. He was going to miss her a lot. At least it was Friday, she'd be off work on the weekend, and it would be the Doctor and Rose, as normal - or, as normal they could be stuck in 1987 without a TARDIS.

He scanned the street. He wasn't sure on what to do. In the end, he plodded home and put on the TV, preparing himself for a very dull day.

* * *

><p>"Hello Rose!" Janet said when she opened the door for Rose in the back room.<p>

"Hi Janet," she said.

"Glad to see you are nice and on time," Janet said, looking pleased. "You can put your jacket on the coat hooks over there," she said, gesturing towards the wall by the door. Rose followed her instructions, then walked over to her. "Now, the shop opens in about half an hour. I wanted you to get here early so that I could show you the ropes before customers started rolling in." Janet held out a rectangular, blue and white badge that had her name handwritten on it with a black marker pen. "This is for you, just pin it on your top so that people know who you are."

"Thanks," Rose said, pinning it on her t-shirt.

Janet proceeded by showing her where the stock was kept, what she expected of her, when her lunch time was, and telling her about the three other members of staff.

"Now, there will be two of you here most of the time. Everyones very friendly so don't be afraid to shout for help if you need it. Today it will be Tara."

"Okay then, that sounds good," Rose said. She was glad about that, as Janet had earlier described Tara as confident, friendly and the same age as Rose, so sharing her first day with someone like that should be pleasant.

"Ah, here she is!" Janet said, in her usual bubbly way. A silhouette of somebody could be seen behind the door and they heard a key turn. Then, a woman with olive skin and dark, wavy hair stepped inside.

"Hiya Janet!" she said, a friendly grin lighting up her face. Then, she turned towards Rose. "You must be Rose, then?" she said as she hooked her bag and coat on a peg.

"Yeah, that's me," Rose smiled.

"She's never worked in a newsagent's before, but she knows how shops operate. Make sure you help out whenever you're needed," Janet said, firmly.

"Sure, that's fine," Tara said, grabbing her name badge from a shelf. "C'mon then Rose, shop's opening in five minutes."

"Rose, my house is above the shop, so I'll be up there today while you two manage it," she called to Rose. Rose nodded before she noticed that Tara was going through to the shop, so she followed her.

They prepared for the morning shift, chatting whilst they did so. Rose decided that she rather liked this friendly, vivacious woman.

The little bell tinkled as the first customer of the day walked in. He was fairly large, with a red face. He strolled over to the newspaper stand and Rose glanced at Tara. She looked a bit annoyed.

"Where's Janet today then? And who are you?" he said, huffing. Something was clearly on his chest.

"I'm Rose, I'm gonna be workin' here from now on." She smiled in attempt to cheer up this crotchety old man.

"Hmph," he said, placing his newspaper and some beer on the counter. He scowled at Tara while Rose took his money and counted out his change as quickly as possible.

"Fifty three pence change," she said, handing it to him.

Without saying anything, he grabbed his things and barged his way out of the shop. Well, that wasn't the most successful first customer for Rose.

"What's up with him?" Rose said to Tara, who was still gritting her teeth and narrowing her eyes,

"He comes in most mornings. He's a grumpy sod. He likes it when Janet serves him, he's always despised me. I think it's 'cause he knew my parents, and they immigrated to this country before I was born. Takes it out on me, I guess," Tara said, shrugging.

"Ugh, what a horrible person."

Over the next few hours, the mood in the newsagent's improved, and Tara decided to leave her till and restock the magazine rack for a while due to the lack of customers. Rose found the day pleasant, and she was glad to meet some normal, human people. After loosing her family, she didn't have any humans left in her life, and she missed it, a lot.

It finally reached four o' clock, and they closed up the shop. Rose said goodbye to Tara and Janet. Janet said she was very satisfied with Rose's work for the day and told her that the following week, she'd be working full time every week day except Thursday afternoons.

On her way home, she stopped off at Sainsbury's to buy some ingredients for dinner. She decided to make a tomatoey basil pasta dish for them, so she found the ingredients, bought a cheap pot and spoon and some plastic plates, cups, knives and forks with the little money she had left. She hoped that they wouldn't have to live on plastic eating utensils for too long, but she just didn't have the money to afford proper ones at that moment.

When Rose reached the flat, she felt quite tired. She'd forgotten what it was like to work for a day. She knocked on the door and waited for the Doctor to open it.

"Rose!" the Doctor said, grinning from ear to ear as pulled open the door. Rose smiled at him and dropped the Sainsbury's bag in the doorway. "Oh, I've missed you!" he said, cuddling her tightly, lifting her feet off the ground for a second. She laughed and hugged him back, even tighter.

"I've only been gone eight hours! Probably less! That's how long I'm in bed for. You should be used to it by now!" she said, a little overwhelmed by the Doctor's reactions.

"I know, but it feels different when you sleep. Plus, now it's gonna be sixteen hours out of twenty four that I can't spend with you," he said, looking a bit dejected. He stepped out of their hug, letting his hands run down her arms until they settled in her hands.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Doctor, but I need to start earning money," she said, softly. "It's only going to be four and a half days a week. Trust me, I don't like working much either, but there's no alternative."

"We could just-," he said.

"No _legal_ alternative." She knew that the Doctor was going to suggest stealing from cash points, like they had done when they first arrived.

"Okay, fair enough. But I swear I will go mad just waiting around all day without you. I'm going to have to occupy myself. Maybe I could get a job, too," he said, letting go of one of her hands to pull the front door shut, then holding it again.

"What? You? In a job? I really couldn't see that happening, Doctor. You barely survived being a physics teacher for a few days, you were always complainin' that you learnt the same stuff when you were half their ages," Rose said.

"Actually, I used to work at UNIT, many moons ago, so I have been employed on Earth before for longer than a few days."

"Really?" she said, surprised at that new information.

"Oh yeah. I had some great friends there, too. They're gone now, though," he said, sadly.

"I'm sorry," Rose said, squeezing his hands. She let her thumbs gently stroke his hands as she looked into his sad, war-torn eyes.

"Anyway," he said, breaking the suddenly forlorn silence, "shall we relax? Watch a bit of TV? I bet you're tired."

"Yeah, okay," she said. They dropped themselves down onto the sofa and Rose grabbed the remote control which had been left on the side of the sofa. She shuffled around, trying to get comfortable. "This sofa's so lumpy," she complained.

"No, it's not great, is it? I can see why the last lot left it behind."

"It's way too small as well. I hope sofas aren't too expensive in the eighties."

They spent an hour and a half cuddled up watching a film before Rose decided she was hungry. She got up and told the Doctor that she was going to make dinner. When she asked for help, the Doctor sounded very reluctant, but since he had nothing better to do, he obliged. Rose showed him how to make a very simple basil and tomato dish. She found that she really enjoyed teaching him how to cook, and decided to make her little lessons a regular occurrence. He looked like he quite liked helping her cook, though he wouldn't admit it.

Just as they were stirring the pasta in with the sauce, they heard a sharp knock on the door.

"I'll get it," they said, simultaneously. They looked at each other, amused.

"Let's both get it," the Doctor said. So, they left the kitchen and opened the door to reveal a tall man who was carrying a satchel. "Hi," he said.

"Hi. I'm Joe Randall, and I'm the owner of this building. I'm gonna be collecting your rent in on the sixth of every month, starting in April, which is next month. Just thought I'd let you know who I am if you ever need me," he said.

"Okay then, Mr Randall, thanks for introducing yourself," the Doctor said. Mr Randall pulled out an enormous mobile phone. Rose raised her eyebrows at the sight of his phone. It certainly didn't _look_ very mobile. All the same, it was quite exciting to see one of these huge phones that she'd been told about when she was younger actually being used. Other landlord gave them his number, then added Rose's mobile number to his contacts. Luckily, she knew it off by heart. She could hardly get out her tiny mobile phone and look for her number in front of someone from the past. After that, they all said goodbye and he went on his way.

"Right!" the Doctor said, excitedly, "Let's check on dinner!" The pasta was almost ready, so they poured some water into the plastic cups and got the plates out of the shopping bag ready.

Once it was ready, they sat on the sofa and ate their dinner.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:  
>Thank you to everyone who has followed andor favourited so far! I promise that the story will take an exciting turn very soon.  
>It would be awesome if you could spare a minute to write a review.<br>Thank you!**


	8. Spike

_**Chapter 8 - Spike**_

On Saturday, the Doctor rushed off in the early morning before Rose was awake to go job hunting, after leaving her a quick note. He had decided on becoming a detective, or a spy, or something that involved solving mysteries. He knew could never do an office job. Sitting still in a chair all day would drive him barmy. So, after trying out a few different places, he got offered an interview with the Metropolitan Police Service. With the help of his psychic paper, his exceptional babbling abilities, his past UNIT experience and his many, many university degrees, he was offered a job as a plainclothes Detective Inspector.

"Hi," he said, grinning as she opened the door for him later that morning.

"Hello!" she said.

"Do you know who just got a job as a detective inspector?" He stepped inside. "Betcha can't guess!"

"Ooh, I dunno, could it possibly be a man called the Doctor?" she said, scratching her head, theatrically.

"Correct!" he said, beaming.

"Yay! I knew you could do it!" she said, before embracing him suddenly. When she pulled out of the hug, she asked him how he'd managed to get a place so high up with just one interview. He answered in fine detail, explaining exactly how things had gone that morning.

Later, when dinner time approached, they realised that there wasn't really much they could eat, apart from the same dish they'd cooked the previous day.

"I guess we'll be eatin' pasta again," Rose said, narrowing her eyes.

"Looks like it, yeah," the Doctor said. "Ah well, it was actually very tasty. You're quite the little chef, Rose Tyler."

* * *

><p>Their Sunday was lazy and relaxing. They stayed in and lounged around, spending the whole day eating, chatting and messing about. In the afternoon, the Doctor discovered a packet of old Gallifreyan playing cards in his suit pocket that he'd forgotten to take out a few weeks earlier. He opened up the little cardboard packet and pulled out a stack of cards. The cards had been intricately decorated with a mixture of colours; beautiful browns, golds and deep reds in swirling patterns and some words which had been written in the mysterious language of the Time Lords, circular Gallifreyan. Rose thought they were beautiful. He taught her one of his old favourite card games that he'd played with his fellow Time Lords, many, many years back. Just as they were getting into a good game, they heard a knock at the front door.<p>

Rose got up, walked over to the front door and opened it to reveal an unfamiliar face. "Hello," she said.

"Alright, mate?! Guessin' you're the new neighbours," the man said, with a strong cockney accent. He edged closer and poked his nose into the living room, then peered around. The young man was fairly tall and big built, and he was wearing black jeans with silver chains that hung from the sides and a black t-shirt that showed he was a fan of some eighties rock band.

"Er, yeah, we are," Rose said, frowning. She felt a little intimidated by the over-confident man. The Doctor walked over to them to see what was going on. He stood by Rose protectively and took her hand. She was glad to feel his comforting palm in hers, and gave it a quick, appreciative squeeze.

"How ya doin'?" the man said, directing his attention to the Doctor. The Doctor gave him a wary nod. "I'm Spike, I live just opposite you guys, in number forty five. Thought it'd be good to introduce meself," he said, placing his hand on the doorframe and leaning against it.

"Hi, Spike, this is Rose and I'm, er, John," the Doctor said. Rose gave Spike a quick smile. She wasn't sure what to think of him. He seemed like an average guy, but he was getting too close for comfort, and frankly, the way he had just peered into their living room was quite rude.

"You plannin' on livin' here long, then?" Spike said. He ran a hand through his stubbly black hair.

"Mm, we'll certainly be here for a while," the Doctor said. After a moment of slightly awkward silence, Spike piped up again.

"So you two are together then? Y'know, like a couple?" he said, rather bluntly.

"Um, we-," Rose said, not quite sure what to say.

"Weeellll, in a sense, I _guess _you could say we're together, but not romantically if that's what you mean," the Doctor said.

"Ah, I see," Spike said, with a glint in his eye, "I'm getting ya!" He gave them a wink.

"Honestly, I'm being serious-" the Doctor said, only to be cut off.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, since when do friends hold hands, then?" Spike said, giving a quick nod towards Rose and the Doctor's hands which were still locked together. He was wearing a cheeky grin, clearly not believing the Doctor for a second. Instead of dropping her hand, like Rose thought the Doctor would, he only held it tighter.

"We're very close friends, if ya must know," Rose said.

"So I can see!" Spike said, winking at them again. The Doctor sighed and Rose shook her head and smiled.

Just as Spike looked as if he was going to taunt them about being a couple further, they heard some shuffling from the end of the hallway. They could see the figure of a woman, and as she approached, they heard a voice.

"Spike! How are ya?!" a woman said loudly, almost breaking out into a jog as she got closer to them.

"Abbie! Get your ass over here old gal," Spike said as his face broke out into a wide grin.

"Hey, watch it, Spike. I'm not old just yet," Abbie said, glaring at him. She was wearing black _Metallica_ t-shirt, black fingerless gloves with studs and ripped leggings. Her raven hair was styled into a wild perm. "So, these your mates?"

"Yeah, they just moved in," Spike said. Rose wasn't sure they could be considered 'mates' that soon, but smiled at Abbie all the same.

"Hi," Abbie said. Rose and the Doctor returned the greeting and introduced themselves.

"So, are you two together?" Rose said, cautiously.

Spike snorted. "Come off it! 'Course not. I'm very single and she's just a good friend." Rose raised her eyebrows. So it was perfectly okay for Abbie to have male friends, but not her. She didn't voice that point though, as she wasn't sure she wanted to risk getting beaten up by these two tough-looking people.

"I was just popping 'round to say hi, on my way back from work," she said to Spike. Then, she turned to Rose and the Doctor. "I live on the top floor here," she said to them.

"Well it's wicked to see ya, Abbie. You still up for next Saturday?" he said.

"Yeah, I can't wait!"

Spike turned to face the Doctor and Rose. "Yeah, so I'm havin' a small get together next Saturday, wanna join us? It'll help you meet new people 'round the area."

Rose and the Doctor looked at each other. Rose felt apprehensive about saying yes, but at the same time, this brash, impertinent guy had turned out to be quite friendly and a bit of a joker, and Abbie seemed nice enough. The Doctor nodded at Rose.

"Yeah, why not, sounds like fun. What time's it gonna be?" Rose said.

"Be there for about six. I'm orderin' a take out, so make sure that you come 'round with empty stomachs," he said, grinning.

Rose smiled. "Okay, we'll be there."

"Well, we better be getting on with dinner," the Doctor said. They said their goodbyes to Spike and Abbie and closed the door. They walked into the kitchen and stared at the small amount of ingredients on the side.

"It's going to be pasta and sauce again, isn't it?" Rose said. The Doctor assured her that he was fine with it, and told her how delicious he found it, but she knew that she was getting bored of it, and soon, he would be too. Nonetheless, they didn't have much choice, so they got on with making it, just as they had done for the last couple of evenings, but instead, this time, they were also chatting about Spike and Abbie. They agreed that although Spike was a bit intimidating at first, he seemed okay in the end.

"I thought he was gonna stab me when I opened the door," Rose giggled. "He just looked a bit dangerous!"

"Yeah, he has a full on way with people, I must say," the Doctor said.

"I reckon he's gonna turn out to be a really nice bloke," she said.

"Yeah, I think he will. He's certainly an interesting one anyway, I'll give him that," he said, chuckling.

* * *

><p>Later, Rose walked into her bedroom having brushed her teeth. She pulled the curtains shut, then stripped out of her clothes, which were considerably less bright and colourful than what she'd worn for their first few days. Then, she pulled on her tiny pink shorts and vest top that she wore for bed.<p>

Pulling herself beneath the covers, she began to think over the day. She had loved it being just Rose and the Doctor. It reminded her of the lazy days that they would sometimes have back on the TARDIS, after their more tiring adventures. They would read to each other in the library, cuddle up while they watched movies in the TV room, or she'd simply admire him as he tinkered with the TARDIS console.

There was a yearning, longing sensation deep in the pit of her stomach, which she'd tried to push aside and keep under control since they first arrived in 1987. The longing for the TARDIS and the longing for her mother burned inside her like a raging fire. She picked up her mobile phone that had been discarded by the side of her mattress. Scrolling through the contacts, she realised just how many friends that she hadn't called or seen in over a year. She'd been so busy with the Doctor that she'd barely spared a thought for those that were her life before all the monsters and the world saving. She wanted to call them all, catch up with them, hear the latest gossip and tell them that she was all right, like a normal human being.

But she knew she couldn't.

After what had happened at Canary Wharf, she would be on the list of the missing as that would be where she was recorded as last seen. Her mum's flat would sooner or later be cleared out, her friends informed of her disappearance. It wouldn't be right for her to go back. She didn't belong on Earth anymore. She had nowhere to call home, no-one to call family. As time went on, her friends would slowly forget her. To those who remembered her, she would become figments of their imagination, that witty, nice, reliable girl who they once knew so well, but had faded from their lives. The planet would keep on turning without her. Her life was with the Doctor now.

A sharp blade of guilt surged through her when she got to her mum's number on her contacts list. Her finger hovered over the green call button, but she knew that it wouldn't do any good. The Doctor may have fixed her phone so that she could call anywhere in space and time, but that didn't include other universes that had been sealed off forever.

Rose locked her phone and before she knew what she was doing, she had thrown it at the wall out of frustration. She grabbed her duvet cover roughly and pulled it up. Tears of anger, guilt and desolation rolled down her cheeks as she wrapped the covers around her body until she was inside a soft duvet cocoon. She buried her face into her pillow and let out her sorrow in quiet sobs. She thought about the man she'd given everything up for. The Doctor. Her lonely Doctor. He'd lost everyone. Not just his family or his friends, _everyone._ He must have felt a hundred times worse than she did. She cried for him, as well as herself, and tears kept on falling as she wept herself to sleep.


	9. Detective Inspector Doctor

**_Chapter 9 - DI Doctor_**

The next morning, the Doctor and Rose were up bright and early for work. They washed and dressed themselves. They managed to get ready quite quickly, considering they had to share one tiny bathroom. They walked down the road together, until they got to the newsagents, where the Doctor waved Rose off.

"Have a good first day!" Rose said.

"Have an even better second day!" the Doctor said.

After he saw Rose into the newsagents, the Doctor made his way further into the town center and came across his new work place, one of the Metropolitan Police stations. He entered the building, spoke to his new boss for a while, then attended the morning briefing. He was assigned to a vigorous day of training and tests. Though they had been astounded enough by his experience, number of degrees and interview to give him a place in a job that a normal person would have to work up to, they still needed to run tests and show him the ropes of the police force.

When he got a break for lunch, he took it as a chance to socialise with the other plainclothes detective inspectors and get to know them. He particularly got on well with a man called DI Stevenson, who shared his passion for bananas, which they had a little joke about. Although it was great meeting all those new people, he couldn't help wishing that Rose was there too.

* * *

><p>At five forty five in the afternoon, Rose and Tara closed the little shop, locked up and said goodbye to Janet.<p>

"I'm off to Sainsbury's now," Tara said, as she locked the door behind her.

"I was actually headin' there too," Rose said.

"Great! It'll be nice to have some company," Tara said with a smile. They walked off towards the supermarket, talking along the way. Rose really liked this witty, well spoken girl - she was good company. "So, are you in a relationship right now? I know I saw you with somebody before work," Tara said, with a intriguied smile. Rose sighed. She was rather hoping the subject of boyfriends would be kept behind closed doors.

"Uh, well, we're not exactly together. We're just close friends, really," Rose said. She knew that the lust in her eyes when she was thinking about the Doctor was going to give away the fact that she wasn't really happy that they were just friends, so she quickly looked away.

"Oh, really? It didn't look like that," Tara said.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Everyone says that," she said.

"I can see why. You two were certainly getting close," Tara said.

"So what about you? You got a special someone?" Rose said, hoping to divert Tara's interest to her own love life.

"Yeah, I've got a boyfriend. His name's Alex," she said, with smiling eyes.

"Aw, how long have you been together then?" Rose said as they entered the supermarket.

"It's been nine months now," she said. "He's such a great guy."

Rose smiled as they grabbed shopping baskets. She was glad for Tara. She was a really nice girl and she deserved a happy relationship. She couldn't help feeling a tinge of jealousy though. She was dying to call the Doctor hers, but she knew it couldn't ever happen.

They continued to talk while they made their way around the shop. Rose stuck to buying the cheapest ingredients she could, but chose a variety so that they wouldn't be stuck having the same meal three times in a row like they had.

Once they'd paid for their goods, they waved farewell and Rose made her way home, leaving Tara to wait for her boyfriend in the car park.

That night, the Doctor and Rose had banana sandwiches for tea, which they both agreed made a lovely change, especially the Doctor!


	10. Settling In

**_Chapter 10 - Settling In_**

Over the next week, the Doctor got into the flow of things at work. He indulged himself into a mysterious case of robberies around the area and had even found enough evidence to be able to interrogate two suspects. He was enjoying the experience of being DI Doctor, but it didn't make up for the adventures he could have had instead if he hadn't lost the TARDIS. He still longed for his time ship during the long, waking nights. The domestic life certainly wasn't for him. He would also rather have Rose, his brilliant, beautiful Rose with him when he was unraveling the mysteries, just like it was before.

Rose also liked her new job. The person working at the other till in the newsagents on the majority of Rose's shifts was Tara, who she got on well with. Janet was impressed with what a quick learner Rose was and grew quite fond of her new employee.

That Friday, Rose and the Doctor were both paid their week's wages, and when they were put together, it made enough money to buy some of the household items that they desperately needed. They decided that they would go shopping on the following day.

The Doctor and Rose woke up bright and early that Saturday morning. They got ready, watched a little TV, then left the flat.

"I think we've got just enough money for a cheap Hoover and fridge, leaving a tiny bit spare for food shopping," the Doctor said, counting up their money for the third time, as they walked around the huge household appliance store.

"I was hoping we'd have enough for a washing machine too. Cleaning the clothes by hand is doin' my head in!" Rose said.

"I know, Rose, but we'll have to wait until next week's wages, since you want to do it the _legal_ way," the Doctor said, as they approached the fridge section. "Personally, I can't see much wrong with breaking a few rules now and again. I do it all the time!"

Eventually, they bought a fridge and a Hoover and had them delivered to their flat. With the remaining money, they went shopping at the nearest supermarket.

By the time they were home, and had set up their new appliances, it was almost six o clock. Rose was carefully placing food in their new fridge, when she glanced at her mobile phone and saw the time.

"Doctor! I almost forgot! Spike's party starts in _five_ minutes! Oh God, how am I gonna be ready in time?" she said. She threw the rest of the food into the fridge and slammed the door.

"Don't worry too much! It's just a little get together with some neighbours, you don't have to dress up or anything," the Doctor said, watching Rose dash into the bathroom. "I mean, look at _me_, for Rassilion's sake, I'm in the same old suit as I was when we first met him."

"Yeah, that's a point, you haven't changed your suit yet," Rose said through the open bathroom door, as she fixed her make up. "Now would be a good time to, y'know. We spent a lot of money on your new clothes, and I bet it smells."

"Oi, I smell lovely!" he retorted. He sniffed himself, then said, "Actually, maybe I could do with a change, I'll just..." He backed away to his bedroom as his sentence trailed off. Rose giggled to herself when he shut the door.

About fifteen minutes later, they were welcomed in by Spike. There was some background music, which Rose recognised, which must have been a new hit for the time they were in. She saw about eight others socialising inside.

"Hi, Spike! Please excuse our lateness," the Doctor said.

"Nah, you're not that late," Spike said. "Come in, I'll introduce you guys to everyone." They followed Spike further into his flat. "That's Abbie, as you know," Spike said, pointing at Abbie, who was conversing with an older couple. "She's chattin' to Damien and Judy, the nice old couple that live on this floor. Doubt they'll stay for long, they like gettin' to bed early." They walked over to the three people and joined them.

"Hello, dearies! Can't say I've seen you around before," the older woman said.

"No, we just moved in last week," Rose said. "You must be Judy?"

"Yes, I am. This is my husband, Damien," Judy said, gesturing to the man stood next to her, who gave them a smile and a nod.

"I'm Rose, and this is th- John," Rose said, quickly correcting herself. The Doctor held out his hand to Judy and shook her hand, then did the same to Damien.

"Lovely to meet you two," Judy said with a friendly smile. "Remember, if you ever need anything, we're in flat forty two. Spike, I think we'll be off in ten minutes. I did say we only wanted to poke our noses in!"

He nodded. "Sure, Judy, it's nice seein' ya here, anyway. Come on then," he said to the Doctor and Rose. They walked over to the kitchen and Spike poured them both some beer. Then, they made their way to a couple of large blokes, who looked like it was best to stay on their good sides.

"Alright, guys? This is John and Rose, they live opposite me," Spike said, showing them off like some exotic pets.

"Hi," the Doctor and Rose said simultaneously.

"Hi, I'm Harrison and this is Danny. How ya doin'?" one of the two men said, before taking a gulp of his cider.

"We're good, thanks," Rose said, "and you?"

"Yeah, we're great," Danny said. After a moment of quiet, Danny spoke up again. "Are you John's boyfriend?" he said, shuffling closer to Rose.

"Um, actually-," the Doctor said.

"They deny it, but I reckon they are, Dan," Spike said, winking, which raised a chuckle from the other guy, Harrison. Rose sighed. Not this again.

"That's a real shame then, innit?" Danny said, edging closer still to Rose, until she could smell his cider-stained breath. She swallowed, not daring to look away from his uneasy stare. Then, she felt the Doctor's hand scoop up her own, and clutch it tightly.

"I think you're making Rose a little uncomfortable, Danny," the Doctor said, firmly. Danny stepped back slightly and drank a large swig of cider.

"Don't mind him," Spike said, seeing the funny side of it, "He's been single a while, that 'un. A bit desperate, aren't cha, old pal?"

Danny grunted in reply. He turned towards Harrison and started to talk to him again, completely disregarding the Doctor, Rose and Spike. They walked away from the two men, leaving them to themselves, and Rose was relieved to find out that they lived on a different floor. She wasn't keen on the idea of seeing Danny around too much. He didn't seem very friendly and he'd made her feel nervous. Spike was a good guy, but she certainly didn't feel the same about Danny. The Doctor and Rose were shown around to some more of their new neighbours, and they had a good time talking and joking, before tucking into some greasy, salty fish and chips that had been wrapped in newspaper.

* * *

><p>The next week was very similar. It consisted of the usual boring human activities; shopping, working and watching TV. They had a few nice chats over coffee with Damien and Judy, and Spike visited them a couple of times. It was only the week after when things started to get interesting...<p> 


	11. A Strange Box

**_Chapter 11 - A Strange Box_**

"Evening, Rose!" the Doctor said, cheerfully. So cheerfully in fact, that Rose was sure that he hadn't sounded that happy since they were last on the TARDIS, a good few weeks back.

"'ello, you! What took you so long?!" she said from the kitchen. She heard footsteps from behind her, and turned around to see the Doctor, who was carrying a large cube shaped box.

"This!" he said, enthusiastically. He placed it down on the kitchen counter and patted it. "This is what took me so long."

The box was about a foot long and a foot wide. It was covered in a mixture of strange patterns in deep blues, pretty purples and whites and it was glowing softly, which gave it an eerie, but beautiful finish. It somehow had the sense of being aged and decrepit, but at the same time, it looked new and modern. Rose was almost sure she could hear the sound of distant, delicate music.

"It's beautiful," she said, not taking her eyes off the fascinating object. "It looks alien. What is it? Where did you get it?"

"One of my coworkers, DI Stevenson, well his wife, who's a scientist, found it in one of her labs. Nobody knew how it got there or anything. She ran scans, but the readings were off the scale. So, she took it home to do some more work on it. Steve told me about it, and I said that I could help. I told him that I have special equipment at home, far in advance of the science labs, and that I've seen something like it before, so I went around to their house after work and they let me take it home," he said, speaking at a hundred miles an hour as he usually did when he was explaining something.

"So you know what it is? And they let you take it, just like that?" she said.

"Don't act so surprised! I'm brilliant, why wouldn't they let me take it?" he said, looking slightly offended.

"Yeah, I know, but they don't know that. What is it, anyway?" she said, letting her finger trace the mystical patterns on the box.

"I believe it's some kind of very clever alien technology. You don't see things like this on Earth. But, I'll need to run some tests on it, to be sure exactly what it is," he said. He picked up the box, and took it to the living room. Rose followed him and they sat down on the sofa.

All of a sudden, they heard a vicious hissing noise. For one terrible moment, Rose thought it was the box deciding to blow up, but it took her less than a second to realise that the sound was coming from the kitchen.

"I forgot about dinner!" she said, leaping up from the sofa. She dashed through the door and quickly turned the hob temperature down. Then, she wiped up the mess that had spilt over the side of the pot, before dishing up the dinner.

"Aha!" the Doctor yelled, making Rose jump while she was serving up the stew. She went to find out what he had got so excited about. "I know what it is!" he said, excitedly, as she entered the room. His sleeves were rolled up, he had his thick rimmed glasses on and he was spinning his sonic screwdriver in his hand. Rose stopped in her tracks and stood there, staring at him. She loved those glasses, almost as much as she loved his tousled hair. The way he had rolled his shirt sleeves up made her stomach do somersaults. He just looked so... "Rose?" he said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?" she said, sealing her lips that she'd just realised were open.

"Are you okay? You looked-,"

"I'm fine," she said, bluntly. "What did you wanna say?"

"This cube thing is what is known as a Dream Box," he said, gesturing to the box that was sat on his lap. "Legend has it, that if you look into a Dream Box for too long, it will try to kill you through a series of thoughts. But I'm sure that's just a myth," he said, tapping the box.

"How can a box try to kill someone with their own thoughts?" she said. "Sounds silly if you ask me."

"I don't know. As I said, it's probably a myth. The stories are very old, and even if they were true, it probably wouldn't have the same effect on people today. Still, you never know, so don't go trying to find out how to open this thing," he said, standing up.

"Okay, I won't! Don't wanna end up thinking myself to death," she said, grinning.

"We certainly don't!" he said.

"Right then, dinner?"

"That would be lovely, Rose Tyler," he said, with a smile.

* * *

><p>As Rose got ready for bed, the Doctor announced that he would also be going to sleep that night as he hadn't had any for a while. Luckily, they had bought another mattress just days before, so the Doctor could sleep in his own room, rather than on the sofa.<p>

They said goodnight, then went to their rooms. Their _separate_ rooms. Rose wished that they could sleep together every night. After she'd had a nightmare on their first day in 1987, she had laid in the Doctor's arms all night long. She just wished that they could be together like that all the time, but she knew that would never happen.

* * *

><p>Rose was half asleep, when she heard some curious noises. Strange, mystical music danced around her bedroom. The harmonies surrounding her were dainty, like fairies' footsteps. It was alluring and beautiful and made her feel like she was in some kind of dream. Perhaps she was; she didn't know for certain. Before she knew what she was doing, she was getting out of bed and walking towards her door in a daze.<p>

She opened her bedroom door to reveal that the Dream Box, which was sitting on the middle of the living room floor, was glowing brightly, sending purples, pinks and blues swirling around the room. The top of the box was open, but the light burning inside of it was so bright that she couldn't see anything inside. As she crept closer to it, the strange music filled her head and she couldn't think of anything but the box, the lights, the music... She reached out with her hand, attempting to touch the lights.

Suddenly, she felt two hands on her shoulders which pulled her back roughly. The person behind her lost their balance, and they ended up pulling Rose onto the floor in a heap with them. The rough landing suddenly brought her back to reality.

"Rose, what the hell are you doing?" the Doctor said, from behind her.

"I- I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "I was... I'm just getting a glass of water." She knew that she wasn't, but she couldn't understand why else she would be walking around in the middle of the night.

"Why were you looking at the box?" he said, still holding Rose on his lap. She looked over to it. She tried her very best to think back to what had just happened, but she just felt dizzy and saw nothing but a blur in her memory. Hadn't there been lights and music just a second before? Or had she been dreaming?

"I was?" she said, frowning, "I don't think I was."

"It certainly looked like it to me," he said, sounding unconvinced. Rose shuffled off his lap and turned around to look at him.

"It looked different," she said, not even realising why she was saying it, or what she was talking about.

"What looked different? The box?" he asked, softly.

"Yes. No. I don't know. The box, maybe," she said. Her head was becoming tight and clammy, and she just wanted to be back in bed.

"Are you sure? I didn't see anything," he said.

"I don't know," she said. Her brow furrowed in confusion. She knew that she was looking at the Doctor, but he kept going fuzzy and out of focus. She saw him take out his sonic screwdriver.

"Something tells me you're not just sleepy," he said. He glanced at the Dream Box. "Rose, just lie down for me a minute," he said, using his hands to gently push her onto her back. She saw his blurry figure kneel next to her and he used his sonic screwdriver to scan her body. Then, he peered at his screwdriver and frowned at the results. "Well, you must have been sleep walking. Nothing abnormal's showing up on the scans, and you know how accurate my sonic is. C'mon, let's get you back to bed." He helped her up and walked her to her bed, where he lay her down and said goodnight.


	12. Wilting Rose

**_Chapter 12 - A Wilting Rose_**

"Rose," came a voice. She groaned and turned over in bed. When she tried to pull her duvet over her head, a hand stopped her. "Rose! Wake up! You've got work!" She opened her eyes to see that the voice was coming from the Doctor.

She groaned and squinted in the light. "Ugh, I wanna sleep."

"What are you on about? You've got work in half an hour!"

"_What?!_" she said, dragging herself up. "For God's sake, why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

He frowned. "I did! You slept through your alarm and my numerous calls! You must be tired after last night."

"Last night?" she said. What happened last night? She couldn't remember doing anything particularly different.

"You were sleepwalking," he said.

"Was I?" she said, trying hard to remember. Suddenly, she felt a bit embarrassed. Had she been saying things she didn't want him to hear? She really hoped not.

"Yeah, but don't worry, it's quite a common human activity."

"Alright, I won't. Don't forget we're havin' Spike 'round tonight, so be home on time! I'm gonna get ready now, can't talk," she said, turning towards the bathroom.

* * *

><p>At lunch time, Rose's shift was over. When she was making her way back to the apartment, she felt so glad it was Thursday. If it had been any other week day, she would still have to work in the afternoon. She had barely been able to keep her eyes open for the morning shift.<p>

When she got in, she locked the door, went straight to her mattress and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>It was getting dark when Rose eventually woke up, but she still felt tired. It was like her body couldn't get enough sleep. Faint memories of an unpleasant dream hit her. She shuddered at what she could remember of it and quickly tried to brush it out of her mind, glad she could only remember so much. She rolled over and grabbed her phone. <em>Ten past six<em>. She'd just slept for five hours! The Doctor would be back from work any second, and Spike would soon be around for dinner. She dragged herself up onto her feet and headed to the kitchen.

When she arrived, she noticed that the Dream Box looked a lot duller than it had when the Doctor first brought it back, and it had lost it's pretty glow. She briefly wondered why it had done so, but soon enough turned her thoughts back to more important things, like dinner. In the end, she had to throw some ready meal curries into the oven as she didn't have the time to make any food from scratch.

Then, she heard the front door open. "Hi Rose," she heard the Doctor say.

"Hello," she said, "how was work?"

"It was good! Finally solved the case that I told you about the other day. It was some young lad. Had a rough upbringing. What about your day?"

"It's been alright. I haven't really done much, to be honest."

He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You look exhausted!"

"Oh cheers Doctor, just what I wanted to hear," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Honestly Rose, an early night will probably do us both good. Anyway, Spike'll be 'round soon, so I'll help you with the dinner. What have we got tonight?"

"Just curry. I didn't have enough time to make a proper dinner," she said, walking back into the kitchen to check on the dinner, followed by the Doctor.

"I thought you said you didn't do much today?" he said, with a puzzled look.

"I, no, but I was, er-," She was struggling to think of an excuse. The Doctor didn't need to know she'd fallen asleep - he'd only start worrying. "I was with Tara."

"Ah, okay," he said. Then, there was a sharp knock on the apartment door. "That'll be Spike. I'll get it." He left Rose to tend to the dinner.

Two minutes later, they entered the kitchen. "Hey, how are ya, Rose?" Spike said in his usual rambunctious way.

"I'm alright," she said with a weak smile.

"You don't look too great actually," he said, clearly having noticed her tiredness.

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks Spike, I guess it must be Tell Rose She Looks Like Crap Day today. I just had all that from the Doc- John," she said, quickly correcting herself. She hated having to remember to call the Doctor by his cover name, especially when she was tired and found it harder to think straight.

"Hard week at work?" he said, choosing to ignore her snide comment.

"Mm, I suppose."

"Don't worry, it's Friday tomorrow! Last day of the stinkin' week!"

She smiled.

"So, what's this then?" Spike said, tapping the Dream Box.

"That's, er, that's John's new work - project... thing." The words stumbled out of her mouth in a disorderly fashion. She really needed to prepare herself more for Spike's nosy questions.

"Oh okay. What the heck is it?" he said, peering at the intricate patterns on the side.

She shrugged. "I dunno. It's nothin' to do with me."

"It's just something I've been working on, Spike. Nothing interesting really, I'm just waiting to find a good place I can dispose of it," the Doctor said, having just joined them in the kitchen.

"Try Jack's Junk, the guy in thst shop pays a lot of cash for random stuff," said Spike.

"Mm, I was thinking more along the lines of a bonfire and a remote field," the Doctor said.

They chatted some more as Rose dished up their meals. The Doctor set up the sofa and the TV, where they'd be eating that evening, and finally, they sat down for dinner. They chatted about work and food and news, and for the first time in a long time, Rose almost felt like a normal human being. Well, besides the fact she had an alien on one side and somebody from the eighties on the other.

* * *

><p>Rose couldn't get herself to bed quick enough when Spike left. She was so tired that she fell asleep almost as soon as she lay on the mattress.<p>

Some time later, she realised that she was no longer laying in bed. Alarm bells started going off in her head. Surely her bedroom was the last place she'd been in? She sat still, keeping quiet while her eyes got accustomed to the light. She appeared to be in a dark, unfamiliar room. She blinked in confusion - she couldn't remember how she got there at all. It wasn't cold, but she was shivering.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure crept past her. She suppressed a whimper. The figure was wearing a large black cloak and hood. It looked human, but she couldn't make out its facial features. It made its way over to a bed, where a woman was lying, and slipped out a knife. Rose stared in horror as she realised what was going to happen. The figure plunged the knife into the woman's body, somewhere near her side. She awoke very abruptly and screamed. Rose tried to tear her eyes away from the scene in front of her, but she couldn't. It was like something was keeping her head in the same position, restricting her from movement. She attempted to stand up, but she was stuck, held captive by the cold, hard floor. She tried to remain calm and ignore the growing panic inside of her.

Before the cloaked figure could take out the knife and stab the woman again, she started fighting back. Rose crouched in the dark corner, and as much as she wanted to help, she was unable to move. Her body was still frozen. She watched as the person got up from the floor and reached for the knife, which was still inside the woman.

"No! Get away from me!" The woman's terrified screams shot through Rose like bullets. Rose tried to stand up so that she could help fight the person in the cloak, but she still couldn't move an inch of her body. Tears of horror and frustration spilled down her cheeks. She must've been dreaming. She had to be. Why else would she be watching a horrific attack in someone else's bedroom, not knowing how she got there? A sudden surge of power came to her when she realised that it was just a dream, allowing her to lift her arm. She bit down on it hard with her teeth in desperate attempt to wake herself.

Rose gasped as she opened her eyes. Faint, early morning light shone through the thin curtains. She lay still for a while, trying to convince herself that she'd just had a dream. It had felt so real, and still felt real then, which didn't help her calm down. She wiped away her tears, then reached for her phone to check the time. It was almost time to get up for work. She felt so tired, though she wasn't surprised after the awful, vivid nightmare that she'd had. In the end, she decided against going back to sleep, and got ready for work.

"Morning Rosy Posy!" the Doctor said cheerfully when he joined her in the kitchen.

"Really?!" she said, raising her eyebrows in amusement.

"Yeah, why not?! Rosy Posy is a great nickname! Dunno why I didn't think of it sooner," he said, grinning.

"Well doesn't that mean I've gotta call ya _Doctor Poctor_?" she said, with a cheeky smile.

"Uh, no. Just, no. Don't say that again. That's... yeah, that's weird," he said, shaking his head.

Rose laughed. "Says the one! _Rosy Posy_!"

"Nah, that's better than _Doctor Poctor_," he said, pulling a face as he recited his nickname, making Rose giggle.

They were making their breakfast when Rose noticed that the Doctor kept glancing at her. She started feeling a little self conscious, so was glad when he finally spoke. "Are you alright?" he said, peering at her.

"Uh, I guess, yeah," she said, still feeling confused at his odd behaviour.

"It's just...well...you look a bit, if you don't mind me saying, a bit washed out. Not your usual self."

"I'm fine," she said. He didn't look away. "Honestly, Doctor, I'm fine. I never look great in the mornings."

"Okay." Then, narrowing his eyes he said, "As long as you're sure."

They finished getting ready and were finally off to work. As usual, the Doctor dropped Rose off to the shop and then made his way to his own work place.


	13. A Mysterious Attack

_**Chapter 13 - A Mysterious Attack**_

As much as Rose didn't like the first half an hour without the Doctor when she got home from work, she found that sometimes she enjoyed the quiet time to think. She was getting a bit worried about her sleep. She was beginning to have some disturbing dreams, and she was constantly tired. Yes, she'd had nightmares when they first arrived, but they were about loosing her mum, which made sense. Thinking about it gave her a headache. They were just dreams, they'd pass. And anyway, it was the weekend so she could have as much sleep as she wanted the following morning. She was glad when the Doctor walked in the front door and she hoped he would take her mind off things.

"Hello, you alright?" he said, walking over to Rose who had been pacing around the living room.

"Mm, I suppose," she said, sighing.

"Hey, don't give me that. I can always tell when you aren't okay, and now's one of those times," he said, softly, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Please Doctor, I'm alright. Just a bit tired." She shook his hand off of her, but instantly regretted it. She rather liked it when he touched her. "I had something to tell you... oh what was it?" she said, trying to change the subject. She didn't want to explain to the Doctor that she was feeling down because of a couple of bad dreams. She'd sound silly.  
>"Oh yeah, I saw Damien and Judy - y'know, the nice old couple next door - on my way home from work. They asked us 'round for coffee this weekend. I said yeah, so we are gonna go and see them on Sunday."<p>

"Right, sounds good! It'll be nice to get to know more people around here," he said.

"Anyway, how was work?"

"It wasn't great. A bit worrying, in fact," he said, frowning.

"Oh. Shame, you normally enjoy work."

His face was grave. "That's not the point. Someone was attacked two floors above our flat last night. Almost killed."

Rose swallowed and her eyes widened in shock. She opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't think of anything to say. She looked down, a million thoughts racing through her head. She'd dreamt about an attack last night. She'd seen someone stabbed in bed. Tears sprung to her eyes. She shook her head. It was just a horrible coincidence. It had to be.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, Rose," he said, taking her hands in his.

"You didn't, it's just...no, it's just a bit of a shock I guess. I need to sit down." She sat on the sofa behind her, her legs suddenly feeling weak, the Doctor following suit. She took a deep breath. "So you were investigating today?"

"Yeah, we looked for clues and interviewed the victim. She's in hospital, alive - just. Funny thing was, her story didn't make much sense. She said her attacker disappeared into thin air after she was stabbed once."

Rose was getting worried that this was sounding more and more like her dream. "Really?"

"Yeah, it's weird."

"Maybe she was knocked out by whoever it was - they could have heard someone and needed to escape after giving her a bash on the head."

"Yeah, something like that must've happened. We are yet to identify the criminal. All DNA tests and fingerprint analyses have come back clear. No trace," he said.

Rose was silent for a moment. "Oh God. He's still out there." She suddenly felt a bit nauseous. "I need a drink. Or a hug, or something," she said.

"Is the second option good enough for you?" he said, grinning.

"Yeah, that'll do just fine," she said with a smile. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her, and she squeezed him back. His hugs always helped her feel better. She smiled to herself as she was surrounded by his delicious smell and hair. He drove her crazy when he got that close. She felt a surge of disappointment when he pulled away.

"Right then, dinner?" the Doctor said, beaming like a small hungry child at the thought of food. "I bought a pizza on my way home from work like you wanted!"

"Ooh, thank you!" she said, feeling equally as excited.

Once their dinner was ready, they took a seat on the sofa and tucked into their food.

"I love pizza," the Doctor said through a mouthful of food. "Excellent Earth creation."

"You can be such a human," Rose said.

"Oi! That's not true," he said.

She gave him a teasing smile. "Oh yes it is!"

"Is not. I'm all Time Lord, me!"

"If you say so," she said, in an unconvinced tone.

He narrowed his eyes and gave her a knowing smile. "Rose Tyler, are you winding me up?"

"Maybe."

"Well, there's only one punishment for that crime." He put his plate on the side of the sofa and Rose tilted her head in confusion, wondering what on Earth he was going to do. "I hope you're not too ticklish," he said, with a cheeky smile.

"Doctor, what-," she started, before realising what he was implying. She tried to back away, but before she could escape, the Doctor pinned her down onto her back and snatched away her dinner plate. Then, he began tickling her. She squirmed and giggled under his grip. "Doctor - please - stop!" she said, between breathless bursts of laughter. He shook his head in reply and moved his hands to tickle her neck. He adjusted his position and continued tickling her. She clutched her stomach as it began to ache from all her laughing. "Stop it! Please!" she said, breathlessly.

Finally, he stopped tickling her. She lay there, half laughing, half catching her breath as the Doctor watched her, chuckling too. They didn't say anything or move for a while. Once she calmed down, she realised that the Doctor was staring at her. The way he was looking at her was intense, almost passionate. She felt warm inside and at that moment wanted him to make a move more than anything in the world. She let out a breath which she'd been unaware she was holding. Then, she became aware of the Doctor's position above her as she felt his legs either side of her body. He seemed to notice their position at the same time because he suddenly looked a bit embarrassed, and quickly shuffled off her. Her heart sank when he did so, but she knew it was for the best. It wasn't going to lead to anything and she knew it. There seemed to be this unwritten rule between them that kept them distanced romantically, meaning situations like that were always very awkward. However, those situations were becoming much more regular and she didn't know how much more she could take.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Let's finish our pizza before it gets cold."

Rose sat up and tried to act like she wasn't bothered. "Sounds like a plan," she said, smiling to pretend nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

After watching a movie, Rose felt like she could barely keep her eyes open. It was only ten 'o clock, but she was so tired. "I think I'll go to bed," she said.

"Bit early for you on a weekend," the Doctor said, his face falling.

Just as she was about to reply, she felt a shooting pain in her head and saw a flash of the woman being stabbed from her dream. She groaned and clutched her head. Thankfully, the pain was over after a couple of seconds.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor said, alarmed.

"Yeah, I think so." She felt dazed for a few seconds. She stared at the wall for a while, then looked back over to the Doctor.

"What's the matter?" he said, moving closer to her. "You looked like you were in pain."

"Just a headache or something, I'm fine," she said. She tried to brush it off as if it was nothing, but she couldn't help wondering why she'd had a flashback from her nightmare. She took a deep breath. "Doctor, I'm scared."

"Rose," he whispered, and took her hands. "Is this because of what I told you earlier?"

She nodded. She wanted to tell him all about her dreams, how she was constantly feeling tired, that the person who was murdered in her dream sounded the same as the one in real life and had just appeared in her head. She wanted to say everything so badly. But she didn't want to worry him when he was still feeling stressed about not having the TARDIS. And after all, they were just dreams. Sure, they could be scary and saddening, but they weren't real life.

"I locked all the doors and windows with my sonic so we're very safe. Some of my colleagues are on night shift, protecting the residents here and looking for suspects."

Rose tried to smile and look less tense, but she knew she didn't look convincing.

"Rose, I promise I'll keep you safe," he said. Then, without warning, he leant forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Suddenly, she felt very light headed. She didn't take her eyes off him. She wanted him to do it again so badly. From the vaguely surprised look on his face, she could tell that he hadn't expected it either. But, Rose couldn't help thinking that he looked like he wanted to kiss her again, though she knew it was probably just wishful thinking.

"Thank you," she whispered, before standing up on her shaky legs and heading to bed.


	14. Bad Wolf, Bad Dream

It's finally here! Apologies for the ridiculous amount of time it's taken - I have actually had this as a draft copy for ages but I just couldn't get it quite right when editing. My exams are over now so I can focus on writing more.

Now, onto the story...

* * *

><p><strong><span><em>Chapter 14 - Bad Wolf, Bad Dream<em>**

When Rose got into bed (which was still just a mattress and a duvet), her mind played the screams of the victim from her dream over and over again. She tried to think of something, anything, to deter her thoughts away, but the only other thing that would come into her head was flashbacks from when she still had her mum, making her feel even more depressed. After tossing and turning under her covers, she found herself falling asleep.

When Rose opened her eyes, it was still dark. In fact, it was so dark that she couldn't see a thing for the first minute or two. She felt around and realised that she wasn't in bed, but lying against the ground on her front. She tried to stand up, but she could only move her arms. Immediately, she made the connection back to the dream she had before.

"No," she whispered, a sudden surge of adrenaline rushing through her. She really didn't want another nightmare. At least, not one like the last one. Anything but that.

A faint light caught her eye, from the corner of the room, about five metres away. It moved, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed that the light was coming from a torch which was being carried by none other than the same cloaked figure as she'd seen the other night. She held her breath. It crept across the room, until it reached a mattress. She knew that mattress. She was in the Doctor's bedroom. She started to panic, desperate to wake herself. She pinched and slapped and bit her arm, but she didn't wake up. She stared at the figure. Wisps of blonde hair fell from under its deep black cloak, and it was now crouching by the Doctor, who was beginning to stir in his sleep.

"Wake up, Doctor! For God's sake wake up!" she said. Her shouts turned into frustrated sobs when she saw that neither of them could hear her. She told herself it was just a dream, chanting it over and over in her head, but it felt all too real.

The figure drew a knife from its cloak tantalisingly slowly. All of the actions it carried out were smooth and unhurried. It placed the knife on the side of the Doctor's pillow. Rose tried to look away, but wherever her eyes went, the image of the Doctor and the attacker followed. When she scrunched her eyes shut, the image filled her head, as if she'd never closed her eyes.

The cloaked figure placed a finger on the side of the Doctor's face and traced a line. Then, it took its hood and slowly pulled it back, revealing its identity. Rose didn't like what she saw.

Right there, under the cloak, was her own face.

"No! Please, no!" she screamed. This was worse than any scary adventure she'd been on with the Doctor or any horror movie she'd seen. The face of the attacker was exactly the same as her own, except from the eyes. They looked dark and merciless, almost possessed. The cloaked replica of herself picked up the knife. It dragged the knife down the side of the Doctor's face, drawing a neat line of blood. He woke up instantly and shoved the Rose replica away from him.

"Get off me!" he said, rage and fear in his voice. Blood seeped from the wound, trickling down his face as he sat up and attempted to run away. But, the clone was back on top of him in a flash. When he saw the the face of his attacker, he looked shocked and his eyes filled with hurt.

Rose felt sick. She had to wake up. She couldn't bear to watch it any longer. She tried every way possible to wake herself, smacking and pinching her body in desperation. But nothing worked.

The Doctor tried to pin down the Rose replica, but it flipped him back over and started cutting into his shoulder. That thing had impossible strength. Rose needed that strength to awaken herself. She closed her eyes and focused, trying to ignore the Doctor's shouts of anguish. Then, she had a thought - it was _her_ nightmare, anything could happen. So, what if she could swap bodies with her clone? That way she'd be able to stop her from trying to murder the Doctor. She may not have been able to end the nightmare, but she hoped she would be able to control it. She closed her eyes. Concentrating hard, she imagined herself standing over the Doctor, the cool metal of the knife in her palm, the fabric of the black cloak against her skin.

When she opened her eyes, she was standing by the Doctor. He must have noticed the difference in her eyes from the clone because his expression changed from enraged and frightened to sadness and confusion.

"Doctor, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, sobbing and shaking. She stroked the sore broken skin on side of his face and touched his shoulder; not caring about the blood she was smearing over her hands. She could have seen him die, so she was just happy to be touching his still very alive body. Not long after, she felt a strange floating sensation and saw the room go fuzzy. Before she knew it, she and the Doctor were drifting apart. Soon enough, they were impossibly far away from each other. She shouted his name, reaching for him as everything faded to black.

Her eyes burst open. "Doctor!" Her screams and cries filled her bedroom when she awoke. "Doctor, I'm sorry!" she cried, vivid images of the Doctor's blood soaked face haunting her, not disappearing.

A few seconds later, the Doctor rushed in. He'd clearly been sleeping as Rose could see the faint outlines of his dressing gown in the darkness which he was still tying as he came into the room.

"Rose, it's okay, I'm here," he said. She couldn't see him, but she could feel him around her, cradling her trembling body.

"It was - so - real," she said between gasps for air. He cuddled her close.

"It's alright, it was just a dream," he said, caressing her. They sat there for a few minutes before the Doctor said, "let's turn the light on so we can get you comfortable and talk about it." He got up and pressed the switch, letting light fill the room and making Rose feel a lot better. But, when he turned around, she shrieked at what she saw.

"Rose, what is it?" he said, urgently.

She was so terrified that her throat went completely dry and she found it difficult to speak. "You're - you're bleeding, Doctor." That was all she could force herself to say. He looked exactly like he had done in her nightmare. He had a long fresh cut down the side of his face, and blood was seeping through his dressing gown from his shoulder.

He glanced down at his shoulder, where Rose was pointing and his face twisted into a look of shock and fear. He looked back up at Rose, who was sitting at thpe end of the mattress, clutching her legs to her chest.

"Rose, your hands," he said, swallowing. She looked at her hands as he'd said. They were covered in blood. Her eyes widened as she realised that they weren't cut and she hadn't touched the Doctor's injuries... she'd only touched them in her dream.

"No!" she said, her voice desperate. "Please! No! It wasn't real! It couldn't've been!"

"It's okay, it's okay," he said, as he sat back down next to Rose. He pulled her close to his body and stroked her back.

"It's not!" she said through sobs.

"Listen to me, Rose. I don't know what's going on, but I'll find out. We'll be okay."

Rose slowed her breathing, trying to pull herself together. "But that's what I dreamed about, Doctor. I was watching someone with my face attack you," she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "It couldn't've been real, could it? Oh my God, there might be someone here."

"Calm down. I'll scan the flat," he said, sliding his sonic screwdriver out his dressing gown pocket. He pointed it at the door and it buzzed as it worked. "Nope, it's only us here."

Rose breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she noticed that the patch of blood on the Doctor's dressing gown had got bigger and saw him wince as he moved his arm. "We've gotta stop the bleeding," she said, panic rising in her voice.

"Good plan. Once I'm sorted, we can work out what's going on."

They walked out of the bedroom to the living room. Rose was constantly taking paranoid glances behind her even though she knew they were alone in the flat. The dream had really messed with her head. She told the Doctor to lie down on the sofa ready for her, then went to the kitchen. She quickly washed her hands, took a small bowl of cold water with a sponge and grabbed the first aid kit which she was extremely thankful that they'd bought on their previous shopping trip.

Back in the living room, she opened the kit and located the antiseptic wipes and fresh bandages. First, she sponged cold water over the side of his face to clean it. Luckily, it wasn't very deep. She tried to remain calm, but she had been shaken up by her nightmare and her trembling hands were showing it. Once the bleeding stopped, she used the antiseptic wipes and taped on a rectangular piece of bandage. Then, she turned her attention to his shoulder. She carefully peeled back his dressing gown and located the slash across his shoulder which was still bleeding.

"Oh God, what do I do?" she said, trying to keep her cool.

"Put pressure on it to stop the bleeding, use a tea towel or something," he said.

She grabbed the nearest towel from the kitchen and returned to the Doctor where she placed the towel on his wound and pressed on it. When she'd stopped the bleeding, she tightly wrapped the bandage around it.

"All done," she said, attempting to smile.

"Thank you," he said, smiling back. He adjusted his position so that he was sitting upright. "Right," he said, patting the space of sofa next to him to indicate Rose to sit down. "Let's hear about your dream."

She sat down and told him about the nightmare she'd just had, the nightmare the previous night which had sounded the same as the case the Doctor was investigating, the one before that which she couldn't remember much of, as well as fact that she'd been feeling exhausted. She hated reciting the dreams because it meant she had to try and remember them, which was the last thing she felt like doing.

"But your injuries, they were exactly the same in my dream," she said, her voice cracking. "I- I didn't hurt you, did I? Oh God, please say I didn't!" She felt awful. All the Doctor ever did was keep her safe and she'd gone and hurt him. It just wasn't fair on him.

He put his arm around her. "Rose, it's okay. Even if you did, I wouldn't care, because I know that you'd never have wanted to." She felt a little better knowing that. "So, we need to find out what's been causing all this, why I'm bleeding and whether having that dream about the attack on the woman was just a weird coincidence."

There was a pause while they tried to think of ideas.

"Doctor, I've just thought - nothing's changed while we've been here that we know of apart from you bringing home that box thing, yeah?"

"Mm, the Dream Box," He narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Dreams! That's it, it's gotta be."

"If it is, then why isn't it affecting me?"

"Maybe it's 'cause it only works on certain species. Might not affect Time Lords or something."

"That's a point."

"How do we find out what's goin' on then?"

He sighed. "I don't know. If it is the Dream Box, I was going to have it destroyed anyway, but that may not stop the link between you and it, if there is one. I'll try doing some scans with my sonic and look for links first," he said. Rose nodded, and got up to bring the box over to the sofa.

The Doctor scanned the Dream Box, then his injuries, then Rose. As he did so, she watched him closely. She thought about when he had kissed her earlier that night. It had escaped her mind after all that'd happened. Why had he kissed her? Was it a sign? Maybe it was just to comfort her. She just didn't know. But she was glad to have something other than those horrible dreams to think of.

"Well, it's not picking up any links. I'm gonna need some more accurate equipment," he said, shaking his head.

"What like? We don't have the TARDIS or anything."

The Doctor thought deeply for a few seconds. "I know - I can ask Steve's wife. She works in a lab, and if I get my hands on some unused bits and pieces there, I can build a scanner to see inside your brain, and the Dream Box."

"Great!"

"Yeah. Only problem is we'll have to wait until Monday."

"Oh. Well I guess I'll just have to stay up 'til then," she said.

"Rose, I really don't think-,"

"I'm not going back to sleep. I can't. That thing," she said, looking at the Dream Box with distaste, "might hurt people. _I_ might hurt people."

The Doctor looked at her in silence, urging her to change her mind and see sense with his eyes. Finally, he sighed and gave in.

Rose glanced at the bandages on his shoulder. "Does it really hurt?" she said, quietly.

"Nah, it's alright," he said. He shifted his arm and tried to hide the fact he was wincing in pain.

She placed her arm around him and rested her head on his uninjured shoulder. "I'm really sorry," she whispered.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for," he said, looking down at her guilt-ridden face.

"It was me, it must've been. There's no one else here and the stupid thing had my face." She looked up at him with frightened eyes. "I don't want to be a murderer."

"Don't ever say that."

"But it would have killed you, and it was me!"

"It was a dream, and there could've been someone in here who escaped before I woke up to hear you, and that box thing could have made you aware some how."

"Maybe we should check the door," she said, pulling herself up from the sofa. She went to the front door, hoping and praying that it would be unlocked or slightly open, but what she found was an untouched, locked door.

She turned around and looked at the Doctor in despair. She checked all the windows, even though they were several floors up, but they were all locked too.

"We'll work this out," the Doctor said.

Rose took a seat on the sofa again and sighed. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>It was around half past two in the morning when Rose decided to search for some food. She was getting restless just sat on the sofa, waiting for the time to pass. She found the last chunk of cheese in the fridge and ate it on her way back to the living room.<p>

She found the Doctor still sat on the sofa, but he now had the Dream Box which he was tapping away at. He licked it and wrinkled up his nose. Then, he looked up at Rose.

"I've had a thought," he said. "I'm thinking there might be something inside it that is capable of attacking me and causing your dreams to be connected." He tapped at the top of the box again.

"Wait, don't open it!" she said, the words falling from her lips before she knew what she was saying.

The Doctor stopped trying to open the box and looked up. "Huh? Why?"

"I - I don't know. It's like... I feel like I've opened it before. Oh I dunno, it's just nothing," she said, trying to figure out why she had a strange feeling that she'd seen the inside of it before.

"You don't happen to remember what you were doing three nights ago, do you?" the Doctor said, putting the box to one side. Rose sat beside him, thinking for a second.

"I don't think so. Isn't that when you said I was sleepwalking or something?"

He narrowed his eyes. "That's what I _thought_ you were doing. You were out of your room, staring at this box, saying things about it. Ring any bells?"

"No, I can't remember. But it might've happened. I just have this feeling it shouldn't be opened."

"In that case I think it could well've happened - my sonic couldn't pick up any changes in you when it happened, but neither could it detect anything this time."

Rose sighed and said, "At least we've got an alien mystery to solve."

"I suppose, but I'd rather you weren't being affected like you are."

"Mm, I know, but that can't be helped." She tapped a rhythm on the arm of the sofa. "I'm bored. What should we do to cheer up this all-nighter?"

They decided on playing some Gallifreyan card games, something that Rose had grown to love. They sat on the floor for several hours playing, chatting and laughing, trying to forget about the situation they had been faced with.


End file.
